South Korea issues safety guidelines to accelerate fully driverless car era

South Korea has released guidelines setting out the safety requirements for unmanned self-driving cars. Vehicles must log at least 15,000 kilometers, and a test driver may take control no more than once per 160 kilometers. The guidelines also require real-time monitoring systems and two-way communication devices to enable remote emergency stops and other responses.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Tuesday announced the "Guidelines on Safety Operation Requirements for Unmanned Self-Driving Cars." The ministry said the guidelines will allow manufacturers to develop Level 4 fully unmanned autonomous driving technology under clearer standards, while enabling the public to use autonomous driving services with assured safety.

The guidelines follow up on a plan to boost the competitiveness of the autonomous vehicle industry announced Nov. 26 last year. They proactively set standards that allow companies to safely develop Level 4 technology under temporary operation permits for unmanned self-driving cars. Level 4 refers to full autonomy, in which the system handles all situations — including emergencies — without requiring a driver on board.

The guidelines cover five areas: driving performance records, remote monitoring, safety design, Minimum Risk Condition (MRC) strategy, and accident response. The minimum mileage requirement of 15,000 km was drawn from permit requirements in overseas markets that achieved Level 4 commercialization ahead of South Korea. However, to ease the burden on autonomous driving companies, mileage from up to five vehicles using the same autonomous driving system and specifications — each having logged at least 3,000 km — may be combined toward the total.

Companies are also required to have real-time monitoring through remote control systems, redundant autonomous driving systems, and response frameworks that can safely bring a vehicle to a stop and move it to a safe zone in an emergency.

The ministry said it plans to pursue autonomous driving policy with "full unmanned operation" as its goal, using the guidelines as a springboard.

Dedicated vehicles deployed in Gwangju's autonomous driving demonstration city will undergo phased unmanned operation before being used to demonstrate Level 4 technology. The ministry also plans to support the full unmanned transition of autonomous driving service pilots that have operated at Level 3 across national pilot zones.

Park Jun-hyung, director general of the ministry's Mobility and Automobile Bureau, said Level 4 is essential for global competitiveness even as Level 3 vehicles with drivers already operate across the country. "The government will actively support domestic companies in developing fully unmanned autonomous driving technology, while continuously pursuing policies that balance technological innovation and safety, with safety as the top priority," he said.

The guidelines are available on the website of the Korea Transportation Safety Authority's Automobile Safety Research Institute. An information session for autonomous driving companies and research institutions will be held at the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association on Friday.