[Edaily Reporter Lee So-Hyun ] SOCAR(403550)and autonomous driving company Apex Mobility have proposed a phased roadmap to the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province and the National Assembly to develop Jeju as a hub for autonomous driving technology.

SOCAR announced on the 27th that Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Governor Wi Seong-gon and National Assembly Member Lee So-young of the Democratic Party of Korea visited the “SOCAR Terminal” near Jeju International Airport on the morning of the 24th.

On that day, Governor Wi and Representative Lee, along with Park Jae-wook, CEO of SOCAR and Apex Mobility, toured the SOCAR Terminal—which features advanced technologies such as a vehicle-to-grid (V2G) demonstration—and discussed plans for Jeju to transform into a city specialized in future mobility.

The SOCAR Terminal, which opened last December, is a large offline hub spanning approximately 2,400 pyeong. Housed in a three-story building, it serves as SOCAR’s core mobility hub, featuring a waiting area for car-sharing users, a work lounge, an automated car wash system, a maintenance shop, 15 bidirectional chargers for the V2G demonstration project, and dedicated parking spaces.

CEO Park announced plans that day to develop Jeju as a hub for autonomous driving technology. He said, “In the United States and China, which are leading global autonomous driving technology, individual states and cities decide for themselves where and how to operate robotaxis, which is why Arizona and Wuhan have each been able to emerge as autonomous driving meccas.”

He added, “Since Jeju Special Self-Governing Province possesses a unique demonstration environment where the demands of residents and tourists overlap, fostering the autonomous driving industry through open regulatory design will allow us to achieve three key goals at once: reducing carbon emissions, addressing mobility challenges for vulnerable groups in transportation-disadvantaged areas, and revitalizing tourism.”

The roadmap presented by CEO Park consists of three phases. The first phase involves transitioning from internal combustion engine vehicles to electric vehicles. The plan is to encourage the shift to eco-friendly electric vehicles through incentives and other measures.

The second step is the expansion of autonomous car-sharing services. The plan is to demonstrate autonomous driving services by combining Jeju’s tourism demand with the car-sharing user experience, and to expand this into a new form of tourism experience.

The third step is the expansion of autonomous ride-hailing (robo-taxis) and robo-buses. The proposal calls for utilizing autonomous vehicles for transportation between the airport and car rental locations, shuttle services connecting major tourist attractions such as the Olle Trails, and providing transportation support in areas with limited public transit.

Representative Park emphasized that Jeju is well-suited as a pilot site for autonomous driving experiential services due to the high demand from trend-sensitive, early-adopter tourists.

Representative Lee stated, “The expansion of autonomous vehicles will not only accelerate the transition to electric vehicles, bringing environmental benefits, but also yield significant social benefits such as a reduction in traffic accident rates and the bridging of transportation disparities.” He added, “We will work to address safety concerns regarding autonomous driving—which is perceived as a mature technology—while striving to promote its widespread adoption.”

Governor Wi emphasized, “While I believe autonomous driving is absolutely necessary, efforts must also be made during the implementation process to discuss and coordinate opinions with various stakeholders and to increase social acceptance.”

Governor Wi and Representative Lee also toured the site of the V2G demonstration project currently underway at the SOCAR Terminal. V2G is a technology that enables the bidirectional exchange of electricity between electric vehicle batteries and the power grid. It is a concept that utilizes electric vehicles not only as a means of transportation but also as mobile energy storage devices. SOCAR has been conducting the V2G demonstration project since early this year, utilizing a regulatory sandbox exemption jointly approved by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy; the Ministry of Climate Change, Energy and Environment; and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

CEO Park stated, “The SOCAR Terminal is a crucial offline hub where we will gradually realize SOCAR’s future vision—not only through carsharing but also through Korea’s first V2G demonstration project and the commercialization of autonomous driving.” He added, “Centered on this location, we plan to continue investing in related areas—such as technology development focused on building data pipelines—to contribute to the development of the AI-based tourism industry that the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province is pursuing.”

With the goal of transforming itself into a full-stack mobility company beyond its existing car-sharing business, SOCAR is also working to secure future technological competitiveness. Last May, the company established Apex Mobility, a joint venture for autonomous driving with a total investment of 150 billion won. SOCAR and Apex Mobility plan to build a training data pipeline covering 1.1 million km per day and will begin operating vehicles equipped with a full suite of sensors—including LiDAR and cameras—to develop a Korean-style autonomous driving foundation model in the future.