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Currently, the number of hydrogen vehicles supplied in Korea exceeds 4,200, making it the world's first.

However, investment in infrastructure such as hydrogen production or charging stations is insufficient.

Amid fierce competition between the US, the EU, and Japan to take the lead in the'hydrogen economy', the Korean government is also accelerating.

In the future, if electricity is produced by'hydrogen fuel cells', it is mandatory to buy a certain amount in the market, and in relation to the expansion of charging stations, the public and private sectors decided to form a corporation together and promote it in earnest.



This is reporter Jeong Da-eun.



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parking lot of a public institution in Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do, and hydrogen cars are parked side by side.



I bought it last year, but the performance is poor.



Public institutions should buy more than 70% of newly purchased vehicles as eco-friendly vehicles, of which 80% should be purchased as electric and hydrogen vehicles.



Last year, about 2,400 electric and hydrogen cars were purchased from public institutions.



Compared to 2018, it has increased by more than 900 units.



The low driving rate of hydrogen vehicles in public institutions is due to the lack of charging stations.



This year, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Plant operates an average of 83 km of hydrogen vehicles per month, which is less than 1,000 km in a year.



Hansuwon, which is headquartered in Gyeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do, has the nearest charging station in Ulsan, which is more than 30km to the charging station, and the round trip to the charging station for Korea Midland Power, which is headquartered in Boryeong, Chungcheongnam-do, is 80km.



Not only public institutions but also general hydrogen car drivers are complaining.



There are only two hydrogen charging stations in operation in Seoul, so it is often a long queue to charge once.



[Dong-ho Choi / Hydrogen Taxi Driver: When there are a lot of cars, it takes about 7 minutes per car, so even if you are in front of five Taiwan, it takes more than 30 minutes.



[Lee Ho-geun/Professor of Daedeok University's Automobile Department: If we also ease the excessive regulation in European or Japanese styles, if we say that the charging station operates 24 hours a day, it will be more than twice as effective...

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it is difficult to secure a charging station site against strict urban regulations and local residents, it is necessary to realize safety standards and increase investment in safety-related technologies.



(Video coverage: Park Dae-young, Video editing: Lee Jae-seong, CG: Lee Jun-ho)