At present, Gangnam’s Teheran-ro, known as Tehran Street, is rising as a central hub for robot delivery services, marking itself as a pioneering testing ground for cutting-edge high-tech industries. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
DAEGU, Mar. 5 (Korea Bizwire) – The city of Daegu in North Gyeongsang Province is set to welcome a ‘mini city’ designed for the pre-emptive testing of various newly developed robots to ensure their seamless integration into everyday human environments.
Announced during a public discussion meeting themed ‘Daegu Rising with Advanced New Industries,’ chaired by President Yoon Suk-yeol at Kyungpook National University, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy unveiled plans for the National Robot Test Field.
This facility aims to evaluate the service quality, safety, and reliability of robots in realistic settings spanning logistics, commerce, and daily life, reflecting the expanding use of robots beyond industrial applications to include delivery, caregiving, and patrol robots among others.
Covering an area of 166,973 square meters in Yuga-eup, Dalseong-gun, Daegu, the National Robot Test Field is set for completion within five years, with a budget allocation of 199.8 billion won.
Partial operations are expected to commence in 2025, starting with safety certifications for outdoor mobility robots and gradually expanding to support a full range of testing services by 2028.
Aerial view of the National Robotics Test Field in Daegu, South Korea (Image provided by The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy)
The initiative is particularly beneficial for small and medium-sized enterprises, which comprise 99% of domestic robot companies and often face challenges in commercializing their products due to a lack of testing facilities.
The government’s strategy, announced last December, aims to grow the robot industry to over 20 trillion won by 2030 and deploy 1 million robots across various sectors, including manufacturing, agriculture, logistics, services, defense, social safety, medical care, and caregiving, to address labor shortages and activate the robot economy.
The establishment of the National Robot Test Field is expected to bolster Daegu’s robotics ecosystem, with economic impacts estimated at 389.5 billion won and the creation of 928 jobs.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy also highlighted ongoing investment attraction activities by Daegu’s city government, which are expected to lead to the relocation and investment of domestic robot companies near the test field site, further enriching the new robotics industry ecosystem.
Additionally, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy reported on the progress of the ‘Opportunity Development Special Zones’ initiative, introduced to encourage the relocation of capital region businesses to provincial areas by offering comprehensive tax incentives, as part of the government’s first comprehensive plan for a provincial era spanning 2023 to 2027.
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
