The main subject of year 2016 Davos forum was “The 4th Industrial Revolution.” Recently, interests and investment in drone market, so called industrial revolution in the sky is growing in many countries around the world. Before, drone was used for military purpose such as reconnaissance or attacking but today, it is used in various private sectors such as unmanned delivery service, agriculture, leisure activities, etc. Presently, many major countries in the world are already involved in the ‘war without gunfire’ to be dominant in this drone industry.
Korean government also has announced an extreme relaxation of regulations for growing drone industry by opening a conference with Ministers related to economics. During the conference, business scope of drone which was limited to agriculture, photographing, and observation was expanded to all the fields except for cases hindering national safety and security. In terms of shooting purpose drone its process of receiving approval for flight and shooting is simplified to online registration. What is more, drone delivery service will be allowed in island areas such as Goheung, Yeongwol, etc from first term of year 2017. Finding the way to apply drone in criminal investigation is also speeding up. Recently, Public Safety Policy Research Center in Korean National Police University has inquired for research service and its result will be out around November.
Likewise, although more and stronger foundation for supporting drone industry is made but there are still, some opinions saying that we should take a careful approach in consideration to the side effect such as abuse in crime. One may also try terror by placing a dangerous substance. If drone falls, it may hurt any civilians. Moreover, if shopping purpose drone is hacked, it may result in violation of privacy.
Compared to America, Europe, and China, we are at the very beginning stage of drone industry and it is necessary to reorganize legal issues to grow this industry. This can be thought from two perspectives; first, the growth of drone industry is blocked by difficult regulations on Aviation Law and Radio Regulation Law. The second issue is the safety and privacy that are required for operating drone. For the advanced technologies to make human life more profitable, more active and proactive actions are required by criminal law side. In preparation to the second mechanical era where man and machines should go together, I hope that responsible preparation is required in all fields including the criminal law.