The Future of the Korean Drone Industry and Policies for Growth

Sungjim Kim ()
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Sungjim Kim: Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, Postal: Sejong National Research Complex, Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, 370 Sicheong Dae-ro C-dong 8-12F 30147, Republic of Korea, http://www.kiet.re.kr

No 23-24, Industrial Economic Review from Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade

Abstract: Demand for drones continues to increase in the wake of the boom in contact-free products and services following the pandemic. There are new transportation and delivery services using drones now hitting the market, such as the delivery of prescription drugs to patients’ homes. The military drone and anti-drone industries are also growing amid ongoing global conflicts such the Ukraine-Russia war. The drone industry is a leading convergence industry, combining various Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies. Convergent industries are expected to exert numerous technical and economic ripple effects through the creation of new lines of business leveraging ICT technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), telecommunications, and big data. Currently, Chinese firm DJI is the world’s preeminent drone manufacturer, with a 70 percent share of the market. Other major players in the drone service area include American tech giants Alphabet (with its Google Wing service) and Amazon, as well as supermarket powerhouse Wal-Mart. These firms are competing in the delivery services segment of the drone market. Korea, however, has no global presence in the drone market, due to the small size and sales of its domestic drone manufacturers. Korea also lags behind leading countries in the drone services segment of the market, and Korea is currently focusing on various pilot projects involving drones. In this article, I analyze the status of the global drone market and survey the Korean drone industry, identifying future opportunities, threats, strengths, and weaknesses. In addition, I propose directions for policy that could help the domestic drone industry achieve a global presence. Thank you for reading this abstract of a report from the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade! Visit us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q36v30l5CV0 Visit us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/worldkiet/ Visit our website: http://www.kiet.re.kr/en

Keywords: drone industry; drone manufacturing; drone services; drone technology; drone delivery; manufacturing; Korea (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L11 L52 L62 L81 L87 L93 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 9 pages
Date: 2023-10-31
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cis
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