Drone, an aircraft without a human pilot aboard, will not be allowed to fly near airports in South Korea in a bid to prevent crash accidents, the government said.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said on Monday it installed a program at airports to control drones from working within a 2 kilometer radius of the airports, in partnership with a Chinese drone maker DJI.
DJI, a Chinese technology company, accounts for around 80 percent of the local drone market currently.
The ministry added that when users upgrade their drones’ operating system the program which controls the drones will be automatically operated.
From this measure, drones will not be used at 15 airports nationwide. The ministry plans to expand the programs into other drone makers to prevent them from flying at airports.
The ministry’s official said, “In the U.S., the number of a near-miss between a drone and a passenger plane stood at 193 for nine months. Though there has been no such case reported in Korea, we took the measure to prevent possible accidents down the road.”
The government also plans to hold safety trainings for drone makers, relevant clubs and steersman in a bid to prevent safety accidents and the public privacy issues.
By Oh Hae-young
