The global mobility race: Why has Korea stalled? The sight of traffic congestion on a road in Gangnam, Seoul, remains familiar. Conversations about once enjoying speed on empty roads now feel like distant memories. However, if the era of autonomous driving fully materializes, such stories are likely to become a thing of the past. Global mobility innovation is already rapidly approaching, and international companies are continuously improving their platforms and technologies to keep pace. The problem is that the Korean mobility industry's progress shows clear limitations compared to this global trend, failing to gain momentum. While technological competitiveness exists, a wall of regulations exacerbates the issue. If this barrier persists, the global gap will only widen. The strategies of global mobility companies present a striking contrast to Korea's reality, showcasing remarkable transformation. Uber in the United States has built a 'mobility super app' that integrates various services, including ride-hailing, parking, charging, and logistics. By acquiring SpotHero, a North American parking reservation platform, Uber is creating an environment where users can resolve all travel-related issues with a single app. From ride-hailing to destination parking search, reservation, and payment, the entire process can be completed within a single platform. This is a strategy that goes beyond mere convenience enhancement. As the era of autonomous driving fully begins, securing bases for robotaxi waiting, charging, and management will be essential. Preempting parking infrastructure is interpreted as an intention to secure future competitiveness. China's Didi Chuxing is solidifying its multinational industrial ecosystem by focusing on expanding logistics services. Moving beyond simply transporting passengers, it is broadening its business scope to include package delivery and freight transport, blurring the boundaries of mobility platforms. Grab, prominent in the Southeast Asian market, is also pursuing an all-encompassing expansion strategy, from transportation to e-payments and delivery services. Tailored to the characteristics of the Southeast Asian region, Grab has evolved into a super app integrating food delivery, parcel delivery, and financial services, deeply penetrating all aspects of daily life. The commonality among these global companies is that they do not remain confined to a single service but integrate all areas related to mobility into a single ecosystem. However, one cannot help but ask how Korea is responding. The carpool service attempted by Kakao T in 2019 serves as a domestic example, demonstrating that Korea remains mired in a swamp of restrictive policies and regulations in this sector. At the time, Kakao Mobility prepared to launch a carpool service during commuting hours, but strong opposition from the taxi industry and limitations imposed by existing laws ultimately forced the suspension of the service. This incident symbolically illustrated the fundamental problems facing Korea's mobility industry. The growth of Korea's mobility industry is conditionally suppressed by regulations. High-precision map data, one of the essential infrastructures for autonomous driving, is a case in point. Recently, the issue of Google's export of Korean map data abroad emerged as a heated topic. The industry anticipates that if Google secures Korean map data, platform competition linked to global mobility services will intensify. While the government decided to conditionally permit the export of map data, this could be a crucial stepping stone in the era of autonomous driving, yet also pose another challenge for domestic companies. Beyond the controversy over data export, related legal restrictions are very stringent. While the export of high-precision map data has been limited for security reasons, this has simultaneously acted as an impediment for domestic companies to gain competitiveness in the global market. Google's conditional permission represents some progress, but significant restrictions still remain for overall industry innovation. This situation exemplifies how inflexible and restrictive regulations can be towards technological advancement. Why do such regulations persist in Korea? Safety and the protection of existing industries are at the core. The Passenger Transport Service Act fundamentally prohibits paid transportation using private vehicles, strongly tending to protect the livelihoods of existing transportation industry workers, especially taxi drivers. Under current law, carpooling is only exceptionally permitted during commuting hours, making full-scale platform-based service operation virtually difficult. While this offers short-term protection for existing industry workers, in the long run, it acts as a factor hindering the development of Korea's mobility industry. **Rigid Regulations Slow Down Innovation** The taxi industry fears that the expansion of carpooling or ride-sharing services