Gangneung City to partner with Lotte Innovate to build an AI Mobility City

【Financial News, Gangneung = Kim Gi-seop】The transportation infrastructure and data put in place for the 2026 Gangneung ITS World Congress will continue to serve people after the event through AI mobility services that ease travel difficulties at tourist destinations and in areas underserved by transportation.
According to Gangneung City on the 20th, a signing ceremony for a business agreement with Lotte Innovate to lay the groundwork for a Gangneung-style AI Mobility City was held at 10 a.m. that day at the Lotte Innovate booth inside Gangneung Speed Skating Stadium, the congress exhibition venue. Attendees included Gangneung Mayor Kim Jung-nam, the head of the Special Self-Governing Promotion Team and other city officials, as well as Lotte Innovate officials.
The agreement was pursued to ensure the congress legacy and transportation infrastructure continue to be put to use after the Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) World Congress, which runs through the 23rd, ends. Its main goal is to develop and field-test tailored mobility services to meet the diverse travel needs arising at tourist destinations and in areas underserved by transportation.
Under the agreement, the city will provide the administrative and institutional support needed to establish a Gangneung-style AI Mobility City and develop and field-test tailored services. Lotte Innovate will develop and field-test the services and contribute its technical expertise to building an industrial ecosystem that makes use of the congress legacy.
The city sees the agreement as significant because it will ensure that the transportation infrastructure and data built and accumulated through the congress are not left as a one-off achievement, but instead help expand the region’s future transportation services and industrial base. The plan is to identify smart mobility services that citizens and tourists can experience firsthand, improve transportation convenience and help build the local industrial ecosystem. The city also plans to continue expanding smart transportation services tailored to local characteristics after the congress, drawing on advanced transportation infrastructure and technical capabilities.
Gangneung Mayor Kim Jung-nam said, “We will not let the transportation infrastructure and data put in place for the World Congress go to waste after a single event; we will make them assets that foster Gangneung’s future transportation and industries.” He added, “By combining companies’ technology with the city’s administrative support, we will introduce AI mobility services that make it easy for anyone to get around, including to popular tourist attractions and villages that are difficult to reach by public transportation.”

[email protected] Kim Gi-seop Reporter