Construction begins on the 30th, with K-City expected to be completed by the end of 2018.

We are creating a 'K-City' where we can test self-driving cars.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will hold a groundbreaking ceremony for the autonomous vehicle test site, K-City, at the Korea Transportation Safety Authority's Automobile Safety Research Institute in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, on August 30.

To develop autonomous vehicle technology, a test bed capable of conducting experiments in an environment similar to real-world situations is essential.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will invest approximately 11 billion won to build a virtual city for autonomous vehicle testing, 'K-City,' on a 320,000 m2 (110,000 pyeong) site within the Korea Transportation Safety Authority's Automobile Safety Research Institute's driving test facility.

Real-world environments such as highways, downtown areas, suburbs, and parking facilities will be recreated, and various facilities such as highway tollgates, interchanges, crosswalks, buildings, underpasses, and tunnels will be built, and cutting-edge communication equipment will also be installed.

K-City is expected to be useful for the development and verification of autonomous vehicle technology, as it allows for the setting of necessary conditions, such as various accident risk situations, and allows for repeated reproducible experiments.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to prioritize the construction of the highway section in October of this year and complete the entire K-City by the end of 2018, making it available to all organizations seeking to develop autonomous driving technology, including the private sector, academia, and startups.

Last year, the testing areas for autonomous vehicles were expanded to all roads nationwide, significantly relaxing regulations. 3D precision road maps, precision GPS, and advanced road systems were developed to meet the needs of autonomous driving.We are also building infrastructure such as STEM (C-ITS).

Kim Chae-gyu, Director General of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Automobile Management Bureau, said, "K-City will be a world-class autonomous vehicle test bed, and will be comparable to similar facilities in advanced countries." He added, "We expect K-City, which begins construction today, to become a stepping stone for the development and commercialization of autonomous vehicle technology in our country."