President Park Geun-hye pledged Friday to support the development of self-driving cars to ensure local carmakers won't lag behind their global competitors.

Park said South Korea can compete with Google and other foreign rivals in developing driverless cars and eco-friendly vehicles, including electric cars, citing the technological prowess of local carmakers and information and technology companies.

South Korea is the world's fifth-largest automobile producer and is home to Hyundai Motor Co. and its smaller affiliate, Kia Motors Corp., the two flagship units of Hyundai Motor Group.

"I think our carmakers won't lag behind global competition and (will instead) stay ahead of it," Park said at Hyundai's assembly plant in Asan, about 100 kilometers south of Seoul.

South Korea has recently allowed Hyundai to test run its Genesis luxury sedan equipped with a high-tech driving assist system in six routes designated by the transportation ministry.

Hyundai said it is seeking to develop fully autonomous cars by 2030 and is pushing to work with local auto parts makers on core parts, including a global positioning system, high-tech sensors and other gadgets.

GPS is a satellite-based navigation system widely used by planes, ships and the military as well as ordinary drivers.

The rare trip to Hyundai's assembly line came as South Koreans showed newfound interest in artificial intelligence following the high-profile matches between Google's artificial intelligence (AI) program AlphaGo and South Korean Go champ Lee Se-dol.

AlphaGo, designed by Google's London-based firm DeepMind, beat Lee 4-1 in the five-round Go tournament that ended Tuesday.

Park said the government will make efforts for the development and spread of AI.

The president also asked Hyundai to quickly develop buses powered by hydrogen fuel cells to showcase South Korea's technological prowess at the 2018 Winter Olympics to be held in the country's eastern town of PyeongChang.

Hyundai has sold more than 410 units of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles over the past three years. Hyundai said hydrogen fuel cell versions of its popular Tucson iX sport utility vehicle can travel 600 kilometers on a single charge.

A fuel-cell car only emits water vapor as it converts stored hydrogen into electricity, which turns the vehicle's motor. 

The technological advance could eventually reduce the heavy reliance on internal combustion engines that produce greenhouse gases, largely responsible for global warming. (Yonhap)