South Korea accelerates UAM commercialization push, overhauling vertiport infrastructure

As the government targets 2028 for the commercial launch of urban air mobility, the urgency of building out supporting infrastructure — particularly vertiports, the vertical takeoff and landing facilities that serve as UAM stops — is growing. To that end, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to revise relevant standards to ease large-scale site acquisition and construction in urban areas, including by exploring the conversion of existing buildings.

According to industry and government sources, the ministry is moving quickly to overhaul its vertiport design standards. Initial standards covering vertiport development permits and design requirements were first established in March, but officials say continuous updates will be needed throughout the commercialization process given that the domestic and global UAM market has yet to fully take shape. The ministry plans to work through a working group with relevant experts and companies to identify areas for improvement and continuously refine the design standards.

The ministry plans to build the first vertiport applying those standards near Kintex in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, to verify their real-world effectiveness. Any improvements identified during the construction process will be incorporated into future revisions of the standards. The ministry is developing an urban integrated demonstration hub near Kintex, with an eye on K-UAM routes running along the Han River axis. The plan is to complete the landing pad first by the end of this year, after which the facility will begin full-scale verification of flight safety and operational systems in an urban environment.

"Research on vertiports — the basic infrastructure for UAM operations — is ongoing worldwide, and we expect further regulatory improvements will be needed even after commercialization," a ministry official said. "We are treating the current standards as a draft and are in active dialogue with experts to keep refining them."

Industry voices are calling for detailed regulations tailored to high-density urban vertiports if UAM is to take hold as a "sky taxi" mode of city transport. Current standards cover takeoff and landing facilities and safety requirements for ground-level vertiports and rooftop installations. However, no separate design or safety standards exist for stacked vertiports — which distribute landing pads, maintenance and hangar facilities, and passenger waiting areas across multiple floors — or for the dedicated elevators used to move aircraft between levels.

Stacked vertiports using elevators are expected to dramatically expand UAM's utility in dense urban cores packed with high-rise buildings. Unlike ground-level vertiports, which require large sites to accommodate passenger handling, ground operations, aircraft maintenance and flight control, stacked designs can make far more efficient use of space. The industry sees institutional support — including concrete design and operational standards — as essential to enabling their adoption.

The ministry also plans to explore retrofitting existing buildings as vertiports. The idea is to tap existing office buildings and other structures to secure urban vertiport locations and meet growing UAM demand.

"Building a ground-level vertiport requiring a large footprint in a high-density area like Gangnam is realistically very difficult," an industry official said. "Since UAM ridership demand is likely to concentrate in office-heavy districts, guidelines need to be continuously updated to accommodate stacked vertiports that make use of existing buildings."

The UAM market is regaining momentum as domestic and overseas companies accelerate aircraft development and infrastructure preparation. Joby Aviation, widely regarded as the global leader in the sector, is targeting type certification from the US Federal Aviation Administration before the end of this year. In South Korea, Hyundai Motor Group has teamed up with Korea Aerospace Industries to develop aircraft.

Against that backdrop, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to launch a trial service in 2028 through infrastructure buildout. The initial phase will operate under three models: a tourism-focused service centered on popular attractions, a regional connectivity service linking transportation-underserved areas such as islands and mountainous regions, and an airport-city shuttle service. Vertiports equipped with takeoff and landing zones, terminals and charging facilities will be mandatory for the service.

"Countries that began nurturing their UAM industries around the same time as South Korea have recently made considerable progress," said Lee Hwi-yeong, a professor of aviation management and logistics systems at Inha Technical College. "South Korea also needs to quickly establish the legal framework for UAM operations and build out the basic infrastructure, including vertihubs and vertiports."