Gov’t to invest 52.3 billion won in robotic technology

The government will be investing 52.3 billion won in high-tech robot technology this year, which exceeds four times last year’s investment of 12.5 billion won. The Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Resources announced on Monday that the plan is a follow-up to the “High-tech robot industry vision and strategy’ announced in December last year. The government has set forth plans to invest public-private funds of more than 3 trillion won by 2030, targeting to expand the robot market, which stood at 5.6 trillion won in 2023, to exceed 20 trillion won.

The Ministry of Commerce posted an initial official notice to receive business ideas and recruit companies to participate by March. In the initial notice, businesses will be recruited based on 17 tasks, including manufacturing and service robots. The total budget in the first-round amounts to 16.6 billion won. The government plans to provide additional support of 35.7 billion won in the second and third rounds in April and July. In robot manufacturing, financial support will be provided for the development of robots learning to assemble highly complicated products independently. Another critical area is the development of an advanced robot-based process model to be applied in auto parts, machinery, and military defense. Accelerated efforts will also occur in robot development in services, such as robot medics in which doctors control robots remotely to examine and treat patients.

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