Mail centers across the country will be used as test sites for private-sector AI-based logistics technology.

The Ministry of Science and ICT’s Postal Service said on Monday it signed a business agreement with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Korea Integrated Logistics Association to promote an AI transition (AX) in the logistics industry and to push ahead with a pilot field demonstration project using mail centers.

Under the agreement, the Postal Service will provide demonstration environments such as mail centers, while the transport ministry will handle related institutional and policy support. The Korea Integrated Logistics Association will recruit participating companies.

The pilot project will be carried out in parts of some mail centers nationwide. It will run both designated tasks presented by the government, including automated rolltainer transfer and automated sorting of very small parcels, and open tasks in which companies directly propose technologies and ideas.

Companies seeking to participate must submit a business plan and application to the Korea Integrated Logistics Association by the 21st of next month. The government will evaluate the demonstration plan and suitability for on-site operation, select final tasks in September and begin demonstrations from the second half of the year.

A project briefing will be held on the 24th to provide guidance on the demonstration sites and how to prepare the business plan. Site visits to mail centers will also take place in early August in response to company demand.

Park In-hwan (박인환), head of the Postal Service, said mail centers are suitable spaces for demonstrating private logistics technologies because they have diverse operating environments based on a nationwide logistics network. He added he hopes the project will help commercialise private technologies and improve the efficiency of mail logistics operations.

Park Jae-soon (박재순), director general of the Transport and Logistics Office at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said AI is a key technology that will determine the future competitiveness of the logistics industry. He said the government will continue supporting the development of strong technologies needed by logistics sites and their rapid adoption in the field.