Driverless cars might be spotted on roads in Korea from March as the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will start receiving applications for test drives of such cars from Friday.

“With the move, the applicants -- companies or individuals -- will be able to test their autonomous driving technologies in the designated zones on the highway or city roads as early as in March,” Kim Chang-ki from the ministry said.

To get approval for a test drive, applicants have to get insurance and submit measures to protect their cars from being hacked, the ministry said in a press release.

Industry watchers forecast that Korean automakers, including Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors, and universities doing research on such automotive technologies will submit their applications ahead of others.

Attention is also being paid to whether the makers of electric parts for connected cars, such as LG and Samsung, will apply for driverless car test drives.

“Test drives of self-driving cars are being allowed as part of the government’s road map for their commercialization by 2020,” the ministry said.

Over the past six months, the ministry has streamlined regulations for self-driving cars and designated zones on the Gyeongbu Expressway and five city roads for such vehicles.

According to new regulations, a person has to sit in the driver’s seat of a self-driving car for safety reasons. Unlike Korea, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does not have this requirement. It recently allowed self-driving cars without drivers.

By Seo Jee-yeon (jyseo@heraldcorp.com)