홍남기 "2025년 드론 택배•택시 상용화...환전•송금 서비스 개편"

We begin tonight with a thought.
The skies of Korean cities full of drones carrying not only packages, but also people... and no... they're passengers and not pilots.
What sounds like a scene out of a sci-fi flick is on route to become reality in urban area in this country in five years as the South Korean government puts the legal infrastructure in place.
Yoon Jungmin leads our coverage tonight.
South Korea is aiming to commercialize the use of drones as part of the urban transportation system within the next five years.
In a meeting with related ministries on Thursday, finance minister Hong Nam-ki unveiled plans to commercialize drones in urban areas by 2025.
Hong said the move will be led by the private sector and backed by the government, and that early commercialization would help South Korea gain a competitive edge on the global stage.
"Amid growing competition with global contenders like Uber, we will be able to lead the early market if we succeed in early commercialization."
The government expects the global urban mobility service industry to be worth almost 600-billion U.S. dollars by 2040.
The drones will be first developed for freight services, then later for carrying passengers.
The transport ministry is currently testing key technologies used in urban air mobility services,... while the government is reviewing related safety rules and laws.
Meanwhile, the finance minister said the government will allow airlines and delivery services to deliver foreign currency directly to their customers.
Securities and card companies will also be allowed to provide currency exchange and remittance services for customers,... and the government will allow more fin-tech companies to get involved in foreign exchange services.
Following clashes between the sharing economy and traditional business models, the finance ministry also plans to start moderating such conflicts when developing new industries. The ministry will first focus on the lodging sector.
Yoon Jung-min, Arirang News.