Korea Expressway Corp's 300-million-won drone system never linked to emergency centers: lawmaker

A drone integrated management system that Korea Expressway Corporation built at a cost of hundreds of millions of won — ostensibly to modernize road management and disaster response — has never been connected to the company's emergency operations center or traffic control center, a lawmaker revealed Thursday.

According to documents on drone system construction and personnel operations that Rep. Bok Gi-wang of the Democratic Party of Korea — who leads his party's side on the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee — obtained from the corporation, the company spent 295 million won ($220,000) in 2022 to build the drone integrated management system and has since spent roughly 40 million won per year on maintenance.

Yet the system's record of actual linkage with the corporation's traffic control center and emergency operations center stands at zero. Connections to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's variable message signs, public traffic information apps, and real-time video sharing with police, fire departments and other relevant agencies were all listed as "not applicable."

High-resolution footage captured by drones in the field has not been used for real-time disaster response or safety patrols. Instead, video from slope and bridge inspections is simply stored and accumulated on internal network-attached storage servers.

The personnel situation proved equally troubling. Of 665 employees holding in-house drone licenses, 300 obtained their certifications with 364.8 million won in company-funded training support. On top of that, the corporation spent an additional 137.6 million won on advanced flight practice training for 414 license holders.

A detailed analysis by Bok's office of the corporation's flight records over the past five years found that every bridge inspection flight — in both number of flights and total flight hours — was carried out exclusively by 16 dedicated outside hires the corporation has operated separately since 2021, with two assigned to each of its eight regional headquarters. The remaining 649 employees who hold licenses, including those who obtained them at company expense, appear to have been entirely shut out of core flight operations.

A full review of the 665 license holders found that large numbers of headquarters management and administrative staff with no operational connection to drones were on the list. Senior headquarters executives held licenses alongside staff in operations support and human resources — and even drivers.

Poor piloting and erratic operations have also driven up wasteful spending. Over the past three years, 23 drones were written off after crashes, malfunctions or damage, with losses on the aircraft alone reaching 142.51 million won.

"The integrated management system, built at a cost of hundreds of millions of won under the banner of creating a smart expressway with advanced drones, has been reduced to a decorative, non-functional system that is not even connected to the emergency operations center or traffic control network," Bok said. "Korea Expressway Corporation must stop providing pro forma license support, immediately link drone footage to real-time disaster and traffic control networks, and overhaul the entire system so that it makes a genuine contribution to public safety."