▲ Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport 2023 R&D Budget Allocation by Technology Sector (Image Source: 2023 Government R&D Project Joint Inter-Ministerial Briefing)

Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's total R&D budget for 2023 is 614.9 billion won... down 2.9% from the previous year
Promoting the development of autonomous driving technology and a UAM surveillance information acquisition system

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will invest 287.8 billion won in future mobility R&D in 2023.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced at the '2023 Government R&D Project Joint Briefing' on the 5th that the 2023 R&D budget is 641.9 billion won, and that 287.8 billion won will be invested in future mobility such as autonomous driving and UAM.

Kim Jeong-wan, Director of the Planning and Budget Office at the Korea Institute of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Technology, stated at the '2023 Government R&D Project Joint Briefing' on the 5th, “The 2nd Comprehensive Plan for Land, Infrastructure and Transport Research and Development is currently being formulated and is expected to be completed in the first half of 2023,” adding, “In the 2nd Comprehensive Plan, we plan to promote R&D by dividing it into five promotion strategies and two special projects.”

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's total R&D budget for 2023 is 614.9 billion won, which will be invested in five major strategies.

The five major strategies are: land and urban spatial innovation, future mobility, infrastructure advancement, living environment for public happiness, and land and transport innovation capabilities.

Of these, 287.8 billion won will be invested in future mobility R&D, focusing on intelligent mobility, carbon-neutral mobility, and safe mobility.

▲ Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport 2023 Future Mobility R&D Plan (Image Source: 2023 Government R&D Project Joint Inter-Ministerial Briefing )

The main purpose of intelligent mobility R&D is to provide user-centered convenience, such as free connectivity between mobility types, and it conducts R&D on autonomous driving technology development innovation and UAM.

We plan to provide focused support for advanced intelligent mobility (autonomous driving, UAM) technologies to lead the future mobility revolution and technology, and initiatives such as the autonomous driving technology development innovation project and the development of a UAM surveillance information acquisition system will be pursued.

Carbon-neutral mobility is planned to focus on new and renewable energy-based transportation and logistics system technologies, such as the utilization of hydrogen and renewable energy and low-carbon technologies. This will include the development of Korean-style GreenNCAP evaluation technologies, electric vehicle safety evaluation and integrated safety technology development, and the development of overseas hydrogen-based public transportation infrastructure technologies.

To ensure safe mobility, we support the development of CASE (Connected, Autonomous, Shared, Electric)-based transportation systems and customized service technologies for the safety of users across various demographics.

AI Development of diagnosis-based aircraft robotic inspection technology, multi-purpose multiple low-altitude drone traffic management system and drone
Development of identification technology and other initiatives will be promoted.

The budget for the two major special projects is 319 billion won, separate from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's R&D budget.

Advanced mobility also stands out in the development of national strategic technologies, which is one of the two major special tasks.

In the field of advanced mobility, the main goals are the development of core technologies for the commercialization of fully autonomous driving and UAM, as well as the development of technologies related to electric and hydrogen vehicles.

Research is scheduled to be conducted on the development of virtual integrated operation and verification technologies for UAM, electric vehicle safety evaluation and integrated safety technology development, and innovation projects for autonomous driving technology development.

Meanwhile, among the 108 R&D projects handled by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, 13 are related to transportation and logistics.

The budget allocated to transportation and logistics is 114.59 billion won out of the total budget of 641.9 billion won, which is a 22% increase from last year's budget of 93.913 billion won.