Anchor: South Korea will introduce the operation of driverless buses for the first time in December. The move is expected to pave the way for more widespread use of autonomous vehicles in the country.
Mina Cha has more.

Report: Driverless buses will begin services for the first time in the country in a city near Seoul at the end of this year.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport outlined the plan in its 2017 policy briefing revealed on Thursday.

According to the ministry, a 12-seat autonomous electric shuttle bus will operate between the Pangyo subway station and Pangyo Creative Economy Valley in Gyeonggi Province in December.

The ministry said it will revise related laws to enable the operation of autonomous vehicles without safety staff for the first time.

Under the current law, even a test-run of an autonomous vehicle requires at least two staff to be inside who can take over in case a malfunction occurs.

The ministry said it will also try to upgrade related infrastructure using the next-generation intelligent transportation system called C-ITS.

Lee Seung-ho, a director at the ministry’s traffic and distribution department, guaranteed the safety of the autonomous driving system.

While noting that autonomous vehicles ran a combined distance of 26-thousand kilometers in South Korea during state-monitored test runs beginning last February, he added there were no significant accidents.

Lee said that the autonomous bus in the Pangyo district will run at a maximum 30 kilometers per hour. However, he vowed to have plenty of safety measures in place, such as hiring related personnel and purchasing insurance policies.

Further down the line, the ministry also plans to operate autonomous limousine shuttle services at the sites of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics during the Games set to kick off next February.
Mina Cha, KBS World Radio News.