The Office of the President said, "K-culture will become an opportunity to establish itself as a growth engine in the Asia-Pacific region." The basic framework of 'connection, innovation, and prosperity'... Also contains the will to cooperate with AI and respond to demographic changes. The documents 'AI Initiative' and 'Joint Framework for Responding to Demographic Changes' were also adopted. On the second day of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit, the 'Retreat' session chaired by President Lee Jae-myung, was held on the 1st, and the member leaders adopted a total of three documents, including the 'APEC Leaders' Gyeongju Declaration,' the 'APEC AI Initiative,' and the 'APEC Joint Framework for Responding to Demographic Changes,' the Office of the President said. [...]

President Lee Jae-myung met with Amazon Web Services (AWS) CEO Matt Garman on the 29th, during his visit to Korea on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit in Gyeongju. Garman announced plans to invest over $5 billion by 2031 in Incheon and the Gyeonggi region, including the construction of new AI data centers. Amazon [...]

Gimhae City Launches AI-Based Smart Water Management to Realize "Zero Leakage City" Ministry of Environment Selects Aging Pipeline Improvement Project, Investing KRW 752 Billion to Renovate 74km of Pipeline Gimhae City is accelerating its efforts to become a "Zero Leakage City" by fully implementing an AI-based smart water management system. According to the city on the 27th, the local waterworks modernization project, which began in 2020, is nearing completion, and the AI-based smart pipe network operation is now fully operational. This system enables real-time monitoring of the entire process from tap water production to supply, significantly improving accident response speed and tap water reliability. AI analyzes water flow, water pressure, and water quality data installed in the water supply network in real time, automatically detecting leaks, pressure changes, and water quality abnormalities. When anomalies occur, it immediately sends an alert to the manager. Through this, the city is building an intelligent waterworks operation system that includes automatic detection of suspected leaks, early warning of water quality abnormalities, and leak analysis based on nighttime flow patterns. In addition, the city is improving remote monitoring and control equipment such as aging flow meters, pressure stations, and reservoirs, and introducing IoT-based equipment such as smart meters and water quality meters to enhance operational efficiency. As a result, the water flow rate (the ratio of revenue-generating water volume) in the project area has significantly improved compared to the initial stage of the project, and the number of complaints about water leaks and water outages has decreased significantly. Based on these achievements, the city was recently selected for the Ministry of Environment's "Aging Water Pipe Network Maintenance Project," securing KRW 376 billion in national funding. With a total project cost of KRW 752 billion, the city will maintain a total of 74.3 km of aging pipes, focusing on the Buwon, Bulam, Chilsan West, and Saengnim areas, from next year to 2031. Through leak detection and repair work, the city is expected to increase the water flow rate to an average of 85% and reduce annual leakage by approximately 300 million tons, resulting in a budget savings of KRW 40 billion. In addition, we will also pursue advancements in AI-based smart water pipe network technology, block-based maintenance, introduction of leak prediction and automatic diagnosis technology, and expansion of water quality and pressure systems. Kim Jong-ho, head of the Waterworks Division, said, "Through smart water pipe network management and the local water supply modernization project, we have laid the foundation for a transformation beyond simple pipe replacement into a smart water management city based on AI and data. With this national funding secured, we will systematically renovate the aging water pipe network and complete a clean and stable tap water supply system that citizens can use with confidence." Source: Gimhae City 

◈ Econubi buses opened on October 30th, with six electric low-floor buses deployed on two routes (8-1 and 15-1 in Gangseo-gu). Wait times for boarding were reduced by three minutes on the Hadan route and 13 minutes on the Myeongji International New Town route. ◈ Cashless buses (transportation card only) were introduced, allowing passengers without transportation cards to pay their fares via bank transfer. ◈ Expected to attract attention as the nation's first application of the "New Town Public Transportation Support Project." □ Busan City (Mayor Park Hyung-joon) announced on October 30th that it will be hosting a joint project between Eco Delta City and Myeongji International New Town, [...]

Governor Oh Young-hoon and transportation experts conducted an on-site inspection of the Seogwang-ro BRT section, prioritizing safety and addressing inconveniences for residents before proceeding with the remaining sections, including Donggwang-ro.  The Jeju Special Self-Governing Province has decided to pursue the Donggwang-ro BRT upgrade project after developing improvement measures to address safety concerns and inconveniences for residents on the Seogwang-ro BRT section.  Governor Oh Young-hoon and transportation experts visited the Gwangyang Intersection area at 8:00 AM on the 27th and inspected sections where conflicts between buses and regular vehicles were occurring. [...]

Incheon Metropolitan City (Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok) has taken full-scale steps to transform its aging planned city into a future-oriented model city incorporating cutting-edge technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. On October 22nd, the city signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with LG CNS at City Hall to introduce advanced future city services for citizens in aging planned cities. The city also announced the establishment of a public-private partnership to integrate LG CNS's artificial intelligence (AX), robotics (RX), and virtual transformation (VX) services into urban development projects. This agreement aims to integrate cutting-edge innovation technologies from the private sector—those of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and digital transformation—into urban development projects.

During the APEC event in Gyeongju, autonomous shuttle buses will operate on two routes to transport APEC official participants. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport (Minister Kim Yoon-duk) and the Korea Transportation Safety Authority (Chairman Chung Yong-sik) will operate autonomous shuttle buses in the Bomun Industrial Complex in Gyeongju, where the event will be held, during the APEC event. The autonomous shuttles are the "K-Autonomous Driving" model, combining hardware from leading domestic automakers like Kia and KGM with software from an autonomous driving specialist (Autonomous A2Z). This autonomous driving technology, which has achieved a domestic production rate of over 90%, will be showcased on the global stage.

- Integrated operational feasibility checks, including operation procedures, traffic management, and vertiport operation, over the Ara Waterway. □ Korea's urban air mobility (K-UAM), dubbed the next-generation future air mobility, is entering the verification phase to verify its operational feasibility in actual urban environments. □ The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport (Minister Kim Yoon-duk) will launch the second phase of the "K-UAM Grand Challenge," an urban demonstration project, along the Ara Waterway in Incheon starting on the 22nd of this month. □ While the first phase, conducted in an open area in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, was a stage to verify the basic performance of UAM, this second phase [...]

- Starting on the 19th, a support team will visit Vietnam to discuss cooperation in large-scale infrastructure sectors such as urban development, high-speed railways, and aviation. □ Lee Sang-kyung, First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, visited Vietnam for three days and one night from October 19th to October 21st. He met with key figures such as Vice Minister of Construction Nguyen Thuong Van and Nguyen Hong Thai, Secretary of the Party Committee of Bac Ninh Province, and discussed broad-ranging cooperation in infrastructure, including urban development, high-speed railways, and aviation, between the two countries. [...]

○ Introduction of Gyeonggi Province's AI policy direction and core projects to 11 global local governments ○ Expanding the cooperative network with major AI research institutes in France and Belgium, establishing a foundation for international joint research ○ Officially proposing a candidate for the 3rd DETA Rotating Chair (2028-2029) Gyeonggi Province participated in the 2nd DETA (Disruptive & Emerging Technologies Alliance) Summit held in Belgium from the 13th to the 16th and shared with the international community its case of implementing the first local government-led "Sovereign AI" platform. "Sovereign AI" refers to AI that a specific country or organization can implement based on its own data, infrastructure, and human resources [...]

- Attended the opening ceremony of the World Intelligent Connected Vehicles (WICV) in Beijing, China, and met with key government officials to discuss policy directions. Minister of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport Kim Yoon-deok attended the '2025 World Intelligent Connected Vehicles Conference (WICV)' held in Beijing, China on the afternoon of Thursday, October 16. The WICV is an international event that shares the latest technologies, industry trends, and policy directions in next-generation mobility, including autonomous driving and connected cars. On that day, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the European [...]

- Gwangju-type Artificial Intelligence (AI) Business 328th-337th Business Agreement - MOU signed at the opening ceremony of 'AICON Gwangju' to foster an AI industry ecosystem - 'AI Transformation (AX)', a three-axis cooperation project of technology development, commercialization, and job creation, begins in earnest - Mayor Kang Ki-jung: "We will support growth and foundation together with AI companies." Gwangju Metropolitan City (Mayor Kang Ki-jung) signed a 'Gwangju-type Artificial Intelligence (AI) Business Agreement (MOU)' with 10 promising domestic AI companies at the opening ceremony of 'AICON Gwangju 2025' held at the Kim Dae-jung Convention Center on the 15th. This agreement is 'AICON Gwangju [...]

- On the afternoon of the 15th, Vice Minister Lee met with the Kazakh Deputy Minister of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport and the Deputy Governor of Almaty Province to discuss bilateral cooperation in urban, construction, and infrastructure. □ Lee Sang-kyung, First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, met with Kazakh Deputy Minister of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport Rastaev Talgat Tleubekovich and Deputy Governor of Almaty Province Isataev Rustam Maratovich at the National Land Development Exhibition Hall (Seoul) on the afternoon of October 15th to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation in the construction and infrastructure sectors between the two countries. ㅇ The meeting was held on the sidelines of the “Alatau New City Roadshow” event hosted by the Kazakh government, “Alatau New City [...]

- 60,000 citizens, 130 cities, and 330 companies from 71 countries participated... Double the growth compared to the previous year - 'AI experience in daily life' such as AI showroom, robot show, and climate tech received a favorable response - World city leaders shared their vision for urban innovation and cooperation in the AI ​​era at 16 forums including Mayers and Robot - Citizen satisfaction score of 88 points, evolving into a global testbed based on future expert evaluations □ Seoul City held the event at COEX from September 30 to October 2 [...]

- Establishing the "Artificial Intelligence (AI) Gwangmyeong Promotion Plan" to be implemented from 2026 to 2028... Full-scale establishment of an AI-based infrastructure - Establishing a citizen-facing AI administrative innovation model for disaster safety, civil service, and administrative automation - Finalizing the plan by December and implementing it in stages... Preparation for the expansion and advancement of AI. Gwangmyeong City (Mayor Park Seung-won) plans to introduce AI technology throughout the city administration to promote administrative innovation and secure future competitiveness. The city is committed to achieving the "Top 3 AI Powerhouses" goal, a top priority of the popular sovereignty government.

- Participation in Kyoto Smart City Expo, Promise of Smart City Cooperation with Kyoto Prefecture, etc. - Sejong Special Self-Governing City (Mayor Choi Min-ho) participated in the "2025 Kyoto Smart City Expo," held at the Keihanna Open Innovation Center in Kyoto, Japan, on the 2nd and 3rd, promoting Sejong-style smart city policies to the international community. The city operated a promotional booth in the Overseas Local Government Zone from the 2nd to the 3rd, introducing Sejong City's case studies on autonomous driving, smart transportation, and digital administration. The Overseas Local Government Zone included approximately 20 countries, including the US state of Georgia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Israel, Val d'Oise, France, and ASEAN.

- Related ministries, including MOTIE and MSIT, will also participate… Discussions will be held on measures to promote autonomous driving demonstration cities and foster the autonomous driving service industry. □ To discuss the development of the autonomous driving industry, the "Autonomous Vehicle Pilot Operation Zone Regional Council," with the participation of 17 cities and provinces nationwide, will be held in Gyeongju on October 1st. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport (Minister Kim Yoon-duk) will hold this meeting as a follow-up measure to the "1st Key Regulation Rationalization Strategy Meeting" (September 9.15th) and the "Autonomous Vehicle Field Discussion" (September 9.24th), both presided over by the President. This meeting aims to reflect the opinions gathered from various sectors, including autonomous driving companies and the transportation industry, in policymaking. [...]

-Gridded-VRS (G-VRS) pilot service begins on October 1 -Enhancing accessibility of one-way positioning correction information service based on proprietary technology □ Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport The National Geographic Information Institute (President Cho Woo-seok) will begin pilot operation of a new satellite-based location information service, "G-VRS (Gridded-VRS)," starting in October 2025. ㅇ This service is a technology that enables precise location measurement down to the centimeter (cm) even without an internet connection. □ Since the positioning correction information service provided previously required an internet connection, [...]

- Mayor Kang Ki-jung meets with Lushan, Vice Governor of Zhejiang Province… Learning about Hangzhou's AI innovation policies - Seeking ways to apply Hangzhou's support policies, including AI unicorn cultivation solutions, to Gwangju - Mayor Kang meets with Hangzhou mayor and proposes 'friendship cities'… Agreeing to continue practical consultations Mayor Kang Ki-jung of Gwangju met with Lushan, Vice Governor of Zhejiang Province, at the Hangzhou Intercontinental Hotel in China on the afternoon of the 24th to discuss exchanges and cooperation measures, including AI policies, with Hangzhou. [...]

- Implementation of data-driven AI and digital twin city centered on integrated operation center - A total of 841.2 billion won will be invested in smart city development, with full-scale launch in the first half of 2026 - Phased verification of essential services such as urban operation, energy, logistics, and transportation… Acceleration through public-private cooperation - Two showrooms of 'Yongsan Smart City Hall' unveiled at SLW 2025, promoting experiential public relations for citizens □ The Seoul Metropolitan Government has established a 'Smart City Promotion Plan' to create a world-class smart city in the Yongsan International Business District, and will hold an event at COEX from September 30 to October 2 [...]