Establishing a 10-year drone industry blueprint with mid- to long-term plans

A candid forum has been created to discuss ways to develop the drone industry.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, together with the Korea Transport Institute and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, held a public hearing to collect opinions on the ‘Basic Plan for Drone Industry Development.’

At the event that day, a plan was put forward to lead the drone industry for the next 10 years, with the goal of increasing the current market size of 70.4 billion won to 4.1 trillion won by 2026, entering the top 5 in technological competitiveness in the world, and commercializing 60,000 industrial drones.

On the 18th, as part of efforts to establish institutional support for the drone industry, the National Assembly passed the revision bills to the Aviation Safety Act and the Aviation Business Act. This will allow drones to fly for commercial purposes at night and beyond the line of sight, which had been prohibited until now.

The global drone market size is expected to reach 6 billion dollars (about 6.8697 trillion won) this year and grow to over 11.2 billion dollars (about 12.8288 trillion won) by 2020, with China accounting for 90% of the small drone market. In comparison, domestic drone industrialization is lagging behind.

Lee Chang-woon, president of the Korea Transport Institute, said, “The global drone market is still at a stage where we can challenge ourselves. We are leading in ICT technology and have sufficient technological fundamentals in the drone industry.” He added, “The future drone market will be led by image observation, transportation, logistics, and agriculture. If we want to conquer the world, now is the right time.”

The tasks that need to be prepared for conquering the global market include fostering the manufacturing industry, creating a service market, establishing a drone life-cycle safety management system, and securing core technologies.

Cho Jeong-sik, chairman of the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, said, “Among the future food technologies of the 4th industrial revolution, the most essential and life-related field is drones,” and added, “We need to prepare for the golden age of drones. China is dominating the small drone market, but it does not mean that our technology is lacking. We need to work hard on industrialization, where we are lagging behind.”

This was followed by a presentation by Song Ki-han, head of the Korea Transport Institute, on the goals and strategies for drone industry development, major tasks to be promoted, and expected effects, followed by a discussion with experts and a Q&A session.

The expert discussion was attended by Vice President Kim Yeon-myeong of the Korea Transport Institute, Director Kim Eung-tae of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, Professor Shim Hyeon-cheol of KAIST, Professor Yoon Kwang-jun of Konkuk University, CEO Song Jae-geun of Ucon Systems, former President Park Chun-bae of Inha University, Editorial Writer Kim Dong-ho of JoongAng Ilbo, and Director Jeong Yong-sik of the Advanced Aviation Division of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, who shared opinions from academia, industry and research.