this may sound like a scene from a sci-fi 
flick but flying drone taxis have become   reality for the first time here in seoul 
a test flight event today demonstrated the   technology that could be a common sight 
should the government reach its goal of   commercializing the technology by 
2025. i'm ji young who is there with propellers spinning an electric 
powered pilotless drone taxi took off   into the sky of absol for the first time for 
a seven-minute test flight over the han river   the ministry of land infrastructure 
and transport and solar metropolitan   government jointly hosted an event on 
wednesday to present the technology the government is pushing to commercialize 
urban air mobility by 2025.

We are holding   this demonstration in order for citizens 
to actually see the development of uam   the ministry said that between now and 2040 
the drone taxi and the new transport system   will create around 160 000 jobs and have 
an economic impact of 20 billion us dollars   at the event smaller drones also delivered 
letters and presents to the attendees   tech companies also had the opportunity 
to showcase their latest drone taxi models   that could potentially reduce traffic 
congestion in urban areas in the near future   it'll only take 20 minutes by drone taxi to 
travel the 40 kilometers from yoidu western   seoul to incheon international airport a 
journey that usually takes an hour by car   and as the technology develops drone taxis 
will become more affordable i think south korea   we have a very strong government the motivation 
they are very motivated they really like to help   the industry korea has a really good component 
technologies like batteries and the motors   so i think we are quite well posed however 
the experts said safety standards such as air   certification operation and traffic control need 
to be worked out before commercialization omg news