Gangwon Province's Regional Characteristics, Specialized Autonomous Driving Technology More Advantageous Than Manufacturing
Gangwon Province's Aging Population and Declining Population, Responding to Autonomous Public Transportation Services

Expert opinion has been presented that specialization in purpose-based autonomous driving technology and preparation for the autonomous public transportation era would be more advantageous as an autonomous driving strategy for Gangwon Province than manufacturing autonomous vehicles.

Gangwon Province and the Future Mobility Forum held the "2022 Future Mobility Forum Conference" on the 8th with the theme "Development Direction of Future Mobility for Gangwon Special Autonomous Province."

Son Joon-woo, Chairman of Sonet, who presented as a speaker for the autonomous vehicle group, suggested that Gangwon Province, which has diverse environments such as ports and mines, would benefit from a strategy focusing on specialized technologies derived from autonomous driving such as autonomous tractors and DRT (Demand Responsive Transit) rather than manufacturing.

Earlier, Dr. Lee Sang-pal from the Urban Disaster Prevention Research Institute at Seoul City University, who delivered the keynote address, presented on social acceptance of autonomous driving and stated, "It should be noted that while autonomous driving innovation technology benefits consumers, if the public opposes the technology, the commercialization of the technology can fall into a pattern of repeated postponement," and added, "the public, which is the subject of social acceptance, must be segmented and customized knowledge about the technology must be delivered."

Gangwon Province announced on the 12th that the "Sokcho Station Area Development Project" was finally selected in the 2022 Hub Development Type Investment Leading District Competition from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

This project is a large-scale undertaking with approximately 500 billion won in investment through 2030 and is expected to serve as a center of future transportation linking railways, ports, and aviation.

The autonomous driving service at this project and mining cities and tourist cities such as Gangneung aligns with Chairman Son's opinion that it would be more advantageous for Gangwon Province than manufacturing, and it appears that autonomous driving social acceptance can be increased as a service that residents and tourists can directly experience.

Furthermore, Chairman Son conveyed that Gangwon Province, where aging is rapidly progressing due to population decline and concentration in the metropolitan area, should establish a virtuous cycle system through Gangwon-type autonomous driving mobility services such as autonomous village bus services to guarantee the mobility rights of local residents.

In addition, he stated that autonomous driving startups should be attracted and sustainable business models should be provided to generate continuous revenue.

As an example, he presented a method to discover sustainable autonomous public transportation service models such as operating pilot routes at tourist destinations and generate revenue outside of government-supported budgets.

According to Statistics Korea, Gangwon Province has an elderly population ratio of 21.3% and an aging index of 197%, which represents the elderly population per 100 young people, both ranking within the top five in the nation as a representative aging region and is projected to become a region at risk of extinction 100 years from now.

Lee Seul-a, co-author of Post-Mobility, also projected that population decline would lead to decreased tax revenue, making it difficult to maintain the current transportation system.

This researcher suggested the need to establish small-city mobility specialized cities and diversify mobility through autonomous driving and DRT to guarantee mobility rights, and predicted that the introduction of such smart mobility could help with budget issues.

In particular, since DRT operates flexibly according to demand, it is expected to resolve transportation blind spots and improve accessibility to medical and cultural services for the elderly, and he emphasized that it could contribute to the safety of not only DRT passengers but also elderly pedestrians.

Meanwhile, Gangwon Province has successfully attracted the ITS World Congress, which is called the Transportation Olympics.

The 32nd ITS World Congress, to be held in October 2026, is the third congress to be held in Korea following Seoul in 1998 and Busan in 2010, and it is on par with Japan (3 times).

Prior to this, Gangwon Province concluded an agreement with Tesla Korea to establish charging stations with Tesla-exclusive charging facilities and universal charging facilities at 34 locations across 11 cities and counties in the province, and announced that it will actively pursue Tesla factory attraction, continuing to show interest in mobility.

Additionally, the Wonju Buron General Industrial Complex is expected to house electric semiconductor material, parts and equipment companies and key infrastructure for manned and unmanned drone industries, demonstrating ambitions for airway development as well.

Gangwon Province passed the Gangwon Special Autonomous Province Act in May and will newly launch as Gangwon Special Autonomous Province starting June 11, 2023.

Gangwon Special Autonomous Province is recorded as the second autonomous province following Jeju Special Autonomous Province.