New urban complex near Seoul opens for testing driverless tech

이총리, K-시티 준공식서..."정부 미래자동차 준비 위한 지원"

Our top story this evening... South Korea in the era of the self-driving car.
A new testbed for driverless technology opened on Monday -- K-City.
Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon went to celebrate its opening and to encourage the nation's automakers.
Cha Sang-mi has this report.
It reads "Opening the future for cars."
A new testbed for driverless technology -- K-City -- opened on Monday for automakers and researchers to come and test their latest innovations.
K-City is a 350-square-kilometer urban center built in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi-do Province, with almost all imaginable scenarios and road environments for self-driving vehicles.
It has all different kinds of lanes, freeways and autonomous parking lots.
The opening ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon, who gave some words of encouragement to officials from the transport ministry and to automakers working on future cars.
"Our auto industry is now at a turning point. We expect Korean companies, including automakers, to discern where the market and their competitors are going -- to look toward and promptly prepare for the future."
He also said the government is doing its best not only to cut regulations... but to allocate more of its budget, nearly 900 million U.S. dollars, to the sector for the coming year.
South Korea entered the auto industry much later than countries like the United States.
It started out making cars out of parts from American jeeps, but now it's one of the world's top five automakers.
Pointing to that example, Prime Minister Lee expressed confidence that Korea's autonomous cars will meet with similar success.
He said the focus, though, will still be on the safety of the Korean people.
"What's more important than technological skills is safety... whose importance we've been feeling lately. I hope South Korea's future cars will be the safest in the world."
Cha Sang-mi, Arirang News.