In the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the drone market is seeing expanded utility in various fields, including education and military applications. As drones are essential for the future growth of the UAM industry, proactive preparations regarding aviation certification and infrastructure are required.

Against this backdrop, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has set out to improve drone insurance to revitalize the drone utilization industry.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 1st that it had formed a 'Drone Insurance Council' with insurance companies and others to revitalize the drone insurance market and signed a related agreement. The consultative body was composed of 8 organizations, including the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Korea Transportation Safety Authority, and drone-related associations and agencies, as well as 10 insurance companies.

The consultative body plans to establish standard terms and conditions for drone insurance and discuss comprehensive measures to revitalize the market, such as diversifying insurance products.

With the growth of the drone market, the mandatory insurance requirement, which was limited to business operators at the end of 2020, has been expanded to include government agencies and institutions. However, while the drone insurance market is growing, it is significantly smaller than other insurance markets such as automobiles, which has led to delays in the development of various insurance products and has not provided substantial assistance, resulting in complaints from drone insurance subscribers.

To address this, the government and insurance companies plan to establish a drone insurance consultative body to primarily discuss matters such as reviewing improvements to drone insurance policies and systems, establishing and operating a drone insurance history system, enacting and amending standard terms and conditions for drone insurance and related laws, and other matters deemed necessary by the chairperson, and to develop improvement measures.

By establishing a dedicated consultative body, we can expect improvements in the insurance market through the creation of a virtuous cycle of 'diversification of insurance products → increase in the number of subscribers → reduction of insurance premiums.'

In addition, detailed improvements to the effectiveness of insurance operations are being pursued, and checks and balances have been established to ensure fairness, such as excluding content that represents only the interests of specific institutions during the cooperation process and preventing the unauthorized provision of acquired information to third parties.

Kim Heon-jeong, Director General of Aviation Policy at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, stated, “To revitalize the drone utilization industry, it is essential to develop insurance policies tailored to the current market environment so that both the public and businesses using the technology can feel secure.”

Meanwhile, UAM, a transportation system based on electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, will be commercialized in 2025.The establishment of a system for safety certification is being discussed as a major matter with the goal of [this].

Moving forward, with the commercialization of the UAM and future mobility markets, it appears that establishing a suitable insurance system acceptable to institutions, research communities, the insurance industry, and the industrial sector will be of the utmost importance.