A drone carrying a package of mail is ready for South Korea's first unmanned postal service from a dock in Goheung. [Courtesy of the Korea Post]
A drone successfully delivered a package of mail weighing eight kilograms to a remote village on a southern island in a pilot project to open an era of unmanned postal service in South Korea.
The delivery on Tuesday took ten minutes between a port in the southern coastal county of Goheung and a village hall on Deungnyang Island, the Korea Post said in a statement, adding the drone made a safe four-kilometer trip across the sea.
The project came after a drone called "Monster 815A" made a test flight last month in an urban area in Sejong south of Seoul to evaluate the safety and performance of an auto-piloting drone developed for unmanned postal service. The drone carrying a payload of up to 10 kilograms is capable of flying for up to 40 minutes in a range of 15 kilometers (6.6 miles).
Across the world, drones have gained huge attention from many delivery companies because of their versatility. They could be used in emergency cases in urban areas and other hard-to-reach places.
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
