“An indicator of national competitiveness,” “the center of the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” “the next-generation growth engine”…

The star of this industry, adorned with such a dazzling adjective, is none other than "robots." Where does the robotics industry stand today, in which the government has invested approximately 1 trillion won over the past decade? A government official in charge of the domestic robotics industry provided a brief explanation.

This year, 69.9 billion won will be invested in the machinery industry, a market worth 103 trillion won, while 88.4 billion won will be invested in the robotics industry, a market worth 4 trillion won. This investment represents not only this year's investment, but a sustained effort over the past decade. The only visible results are "guide robots" in large shopping malls, a self-deprecating assessment.

Of course, they wouldn't have invested a huge amount of money over ten years to build a single guide robot for that shopping mall. Funding would have been spent (or so I believe) on a variety of unseen areas, from component development to software development and even supporting the technological development of robotics companies. These government officials' complaints likely stem from the complaints of robotics companies, who claim the government is working on it, but in reality, they're "overworked." The problem is that industrial development is not proportional to the amount of support.

The Korean robotics industry has clearly experienced growth, even in terms of external factors. In 2015, the market grew by 30-35% year-on-year, making it the world's second-largest robotics market. This growth was driven by the automotive, electronics, and battery industries. Domestic robot production grew by 19%, while exports (based on volume) decreased by 44%, while imports increased by 44%. Imports were 1.7 times higher than domestic production, and added value increased by 4.5 times.

Manufacturing robots account for the largest share of the robot market, with the electrical and electronics industry accounting for 49% of the domestic industrial robot supply. Among these, the semiconductor/LCD/LED sectors are the most important. According to research, the domestic robot industry has achieved high growth, averaging 21% annually over the past six years.

However, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which account for 93% of domestic robotics companies, still say that it is 'difficult to do robotics business' in Korea. There is no small business that doesn't struggle, but Korean robotics companies, despite receiving a lot of support, are once again hurt by being treated like whiny children.

So why is the Korean robotics industry struggling? While Korea excels at manufacturing industrial robots, maintaining a close technological lead over advanced nations, its market size remains a weakness. As of 2014, the manufacturing robot market was worth 2.1 trillion won, but it needs to grow tenfold to achieve significant growth. This small market also hinders the competitiveness of companies responding to its growth. The lack of mid-sized companies capable of responding to global competition underscores this.

The issue of funding for R&D is also a concern. While the government has invested nearly 1 trillion won to date, this represents only a tenth of the scale of robotics investment in advanced countries. The production environment also needs to change. We need to shift from mass production to small-batch, high-quality production. Future business models must also shift toward selling collaborative robot solutions and systems.

Beyond silk manufacturing robots, attention should also be paid to the service robot market, which is befitting the age of intelligence. The applications of robots are expanding across diverse sectors, from educational service robots, cleaning robots, and humanoid service robots to medical, military, and agricultural service robots. However, most of these markets are dominated by foreign companies.

Lee San Solution CEO Jeong Won-min said, “In order to develop the domestic service robot industry, a new national robot strategy is needed for the Republic of Korea,” adding, “We must participate in the competition for leadership in the International Robot Olympics and plan and implement a strategy to promote the robot culture industry.” He emphasized, “In particular, we need to create an investment fund for the development of the robot industry.”

The industry that will transform our lives and culture, a true digital convergence product... The robotics industry, the most representative industry that could be the "subject" of these sentences, is struggling. Now, more than ever, we need support and encouragement to ensure that the domestic robotics industry, which will lead the future paradigm shift, can take pride in its position.