South Korea proposes expanded smart mobility cooperation among member economies
The APEC Transportation Ministers' Meeting, held Tuesday in Beijing, took up the digital transformation of transport — including AI and autonomous driving — as well as ways to strengthen regional connectivity.
South Korea's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said a government delegation led by Park Jae-soon, director general for transport and logistics, joined senior transport officials from 21 member economies to discuss transport cooperation and put forward proposals for future smart mobility collaboration.
At the plenary session, the delegation presented domestic transport innovation cases using AI and digital technology and proposed expanding smart mobility cooperation among member economies.
Highlights included a city-scale autonomous driving pilot covering all of Gwangju, a service linking autonomous vehicles with demand-responsive transport (DRT), a nationwide intelligent transport systems (ITS) infrastructure and Hi-pass network, and smart logistics powered by AI and automation — all examples of digital technology applied directly to real-world transport and logistics operations.
The delegation said that as connectivity within digital transport systems deepens, cooperation among member economies on emerging governance challenges — including data use and protection, cybersecurity, and technical and safety standards — is increasingly important. It also proposed using the APEC Smart Mobility Forum, which South Korea leads, as a platform to share policy and technology experience and to continue identifying concrete areas for cooperation.
The delegation visited the Beijing Yizhuang Autonomous Driving Pilot Zone, where it observed autonomous driving services operating on public roads — including fully driverless robotaxis and self-driving buses — and said it would draw on the zone's operational and safety management practices for domestic autonomous driving policy.
"The goal of digital innovation is not technology itself, but connecting innovative technology to safe and convenient transport services that people can actually feel in their daily lives," Park said. "We will actively share South Korea's pilot experience and policies with member economies and contribute to building a safe and trustworthy future transport ecosystem through the APEC Smart Mobility Forum."
The APEC Transportation Ministers' Meeting is a high-level forum where transport ministers and senior officials from APEC member economies discuss major transport issues and policy directions across the Asia-Pacific region and explore avenues for regional cooperation. At the 11th meeting, held in Detroit in 2023, South Korea introduced eco-friendly transport policies aimed at carbon neutrality, including accelerating the shift to electric and hydrogen vehicles and innovations in public transport such as demand-responsive buses.
smh@heraldcorp.com
