Study on Utilization Drones in Domestic Logistics Service in Korea

Purpose - In the year of 2015 and 2016, one of the items that got attention in CES was a drone. It has been 100 years since a drone emerged, but most were used for military purposes. As its use became diverse as of 2010, it got attention of the general public. In Korea, it was in 2011 that a drone was known to the public through an aerial video shooting for television program. This study tried to come up with suggestions by comparing domestic with overseas cases, and tried to consider the related technologies and systems with applying the role of drones in logistics service. Research design, data, and methodology - The overseas cases were regarded as drone’s logistical purpose. The Prime Air service by US Amazon is still not commercialized and under pre-testing due to Federal Aviation Regulations, although it started in 2013. In Germany, DHL succeeded in delivering service testing which is called Parcelcopter, but it is not commercialized yet. Other than these, there are more attempts to prepare logistics service in China with Taobao, in France with Geopost’s test, and in Africa. In Korea, CJ Korea Express tested delivery with a self-developed drone Results - In order to study for utilizing drones for logistics as the prerequisites, some overseas and domestic cases, which are currently considered, were reviewed. Also, the technologies and institutional requirements to commercialize drones for logistical purpose were reviewed. The reasons for using drones in logistics is to ensure the price competitiveness by reducing cost. The empirical test also will be needed because drone pilot areas are designated by ministry of land, infrastructure and transport. Conclusions - In order to utilize drones in logistics and foster the industry, this study would like to suggest the followings. First of all, size of drones for logistics needs to be fixed and their operating system should be standardized. Centralized investment resources are needed through standardization to ensu