JEJU-DO < invest Korea

                                                                                                                                                                             

According to Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea,

South Korea’s most popular resort island Jeju has become the country’s main test bed for innovative technologies thanks to the island’s vast regulation-free special zones.

Evar, a Korean developer of a mobile electric vehicle charger, has successfully tested its EV automatic recharging robot in Jeju under the Korean government’s regulatory sandbox, and improved its technology for better service during the verification process.

“We had difficulties to commercialize our mobile EV charger because there were no specific rules to certify its safety. But we were able to gain approval (for regulatory special case for demonstration) in Jeju, which is one of the regulation-free special zones selected by the government,” said Evar’s CEO Lee Hun.

Korea’s regulatory sandbox is operated through three processes – prompt confirmation, temporary permission and regulatory special cases for demonstration. Through the permission for regulatory special cases, Evar has tested its mobile EV chargers that were not able to gain safety approval in the country that permits only stationary EV chargers. But mobile chargers are already used in other countries, including the United States and Germany.

Regulation-free special zones are areas designated to allow firms to conduct business freely without restrictions from regulations. The system, introduced by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) in 2019, has revigorated the selected zones, attracting investments worth 2.4 trillion won ($1.93 billion) and creating 2,400 jobs. Currently, 71 innovative new businesses are operating without restriction in 29 special zones.

Of them, Jeju has emerged as a main test bed for promising technologies. On top of the mobile EV charging solution, a personal EV charger sharing platform has been set up in the resort island thanks to the government’s regulation-free demonstration approval.

Gwangju is catching up Jeju as a new technology testing-out zone. Autonomous slow-speed special vehicles recently completed their test operation successfully in the major city in Jeolla province.

By Yang Yeon-ho and Jenny Lee

Copyrights Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea. All Rights Reserved.

Source: Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea (April 20, 2022)