South Korean internet giant Naver has announced it would soon start testing self-driving cars on roads. Naver's autonomous vehicles have already passed a performance test conducted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and are awaiting permission for test runs, Yonhap news agency reports, citing unnamed official sources. The ministry has designated sections of existing roads, totaling 375 kilometers in total length, for testing the cars.
"The process of setting up Naver Labs – Naver's subsidiary firm in charge of R&D for self-driving cars – is ongoing", said an unnamed ministry official. "The approval will be issued as soon as the process is completed", he added. "Our car is at level 3, which is just below level 4 when drivers can close their eyes during driving", said Naver’s Cheong Ji-hoon.
Naver earlier announced that it would launch an independent company focused on the development of self-driving cars, robots and AI. Market sources expect the permission to be granted in February.
