Chungnam selects six cities including Asan, Nonsan and Dangjin for 2026 Drone City

Six cities in South Korea’s Chungnam Province have been selected for the 2026 Drone Demonstration City Construction Project, a program overseen by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The province secured 1.4 billion won in national funding to develop region-specific drone applications, including delivery, recreation, and public services, and to support their commercialization.

Asan, Nonsan, and Dangjin are the newly chosen cities. They will pilot drone-based administrative services and innovative living-logistics models that use drone technology as core capabilities for local government.

In Asan, projects will apply drone and GEO AI technology to monitor urban changes and conduct small-drone underground facility surveys. In Nonsan, the focus is on drone hi-pass delivery of agricultural products linked to the Strawberry Expo, effectively speeding up logistics for local produce. In Dangjin, the plan targets logistics delivery to islands along the Seohaean (west coast) region.

The three previously selected cities—Gongju, Boryeong, and Seosan—will continue and upgrade existing drone delivery and disaster surveillance demonstration programs.

Im Taek-bin, head of the province’s Land Administration Division, said the new selections enable expanded, drone-enabled, everyday services across multiple counties and cities, and that the province will continue to develop drone services that residents can feel while growing the local drone industry ecosystem.

Beyond these demonstrations, Chungnam is pursuing a broader set of drone policies, including the development of drone parks, a digital tidal-flat map, and drone-assisted disaster response, in line with its goal to position the region as a “Drone Innovation Hub” for the province.

For U.S. readers, the move illustrates South Korea’s active national push to accelerate autonomous delivery, smart city applications, and disaster-response capabilities through drone technology. The program signals potential opportunities for cross-border collaboration, supply-chain innovation, and technology standards that could influence global markets and U.S.-Korea tech partnerships, especially in logistics automation, AI integration, and public-service applications.