On August 5, 2026, South Korea's National Assembly received Bill 2220466, a member bill (Rep. Kim Hee-jung and nine co-sponsors) partially amending the Act on Promotion and Support for Commercialization of Autonomous Vehicles. The draft expands who may seek Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) suitability approval to operate performance-certified autonomous vehicles, adding transport operator cooperatives formed under the Passenger Transport Business Act to the eligible applicant list.
The change is facilitative, not a new safety standard. If enacted, cooperatives could lead AV deployment while individual members remain the Motor Vehicle Management Act registration holders, with suitability-approval effect expressly extended to those members. The bill is at receipt stage: the competent committee is not yet assigned, and a cost-estimate request has been filed.
What does Bill 2220466 change in Article 41?
Under current law, an operator that wants to run a performance-certified autonomous vehicle must obtain MOLIT suitability approval and then register the vehicle under the Motor Vehicle Management Act. Eligible subjects for that suitability approval and registration path are limited to public institutions, passenger automobile transport operators, and freight automobile transport operators.
Bill 2220466 amends Article 41 to add transport operator associations (cooperatives) under the Passenger Transport Business Act as parties that may apply for suitability approval. Where a cooperative obtains that approval, a new proviso requires the cooperative's members to carry out vehicle registration, and states that the approval's effect applies equally to those members. The stated policy goal is a more flexible AV service supply model that stays aligned with existing registration practice.
Who is impacted if the bill becomes law?
Primary impact falls on Korean transport operator cooperatives that want to orchestrate shared AV fleets for passenger mobility, and on their member carriers that would hold registration. Individual passenger and freight operators already eligible under today's Article 41 are not stripped of that status; the bill widens the gate rather than replacing it.
OEMs, ADS suppliers, and mobility platforms selling into Korea should treat cooperative-led procurement as a newly plausible commercialization channel once the text clears committee and enactment. Homologation and performance-certification duties themselves are not rewritten by this draft: the novelty is who may hold the operational suitability ticket and how that ticket maps onto member-level registration.
| Item | Current law | Bill 2220466 (proposed) |
|---|---|---|
| Who may seek MOLIT suitability approval | Public institutions; passenger transport operators; freight transport operators | Same list, plus Passenger Transport Business Act transport operator cooperatives |
| Who registers the AV (Motor Vehicle Management Act) | Same eligible operator categories as approval holders | If a cooperative holds suitability approval, its members register the vehicles |
| Effect of suitability approval on members | Not expressly framed for cooperatives | Approval effect applies equally to cooperative members |
| Legislative status (as of August 5, 2026) | N/A | Proposed / received; committee unassigned; cost-estimate request filed |
What should compliance and product teams do now?
Map whether your Korean go-to-market assumes only single-operator applicants or also cooperative fleet models. If you sell through or with cooperatives, track Bill 2220466 through committee referral, review, and any MOLIT implementing rules that may follow enactment: the statutory text alone will not define application forms, evidence packs, or ODD conditions.
Separately, keep this member bill distinct from the Motor Vehicle Management Act amendment MOLIT has flagged for 2026 to transpose UNECE ADS Level-4 standards. That government track hardens driverless homologation and temporary-operation pathways; Bill 2220466 only rewires eligibility for suitability approval under the Autonomous Vehicles Commercialization Act. Continuous, per-jurisdiction monitoring surfaces both tracks the moment each filing publishes.
Take advantage of this real-time watch
Next steps: confirm whether any Korean partner you rely on is a Passenger Transport Business Act cooperative rather than a standalone licensed carrier; verify that your commercialization playbook still works if approval sits at cooperative level and registration sits with members; and brief regulatory affairs before committee assignment so you can comment or adapt once the draft moves. Obsidian keeps South Korea AV commercialization filings in one monitored stream so this kind of eligibility shift is visible as soon as the Assembly posts it.
