This image, captured from North Korea’s Korean Central Television on Nov. 25, 2022, shows an artificially intelligent robot (L) used for COVID-19 quarantines that was displayed during an exhibition on scientific technologies of the country’s quarantine and health sectors on Nov. 23. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Nov. 28 (Korea Bizwire) — North Korea’s state broadcaster has unveiled a domestically developed COVID-19 quarantine robot.
When reporting about the hosting of a science and technology presentation and exhibition last week, the Korean Central Television (KCTV) noted that an artificially intelligent robot used for COVID-19 quarantines was exhibited.
With a large display on the front, the robot features a round head, red eyes and two arms, and resembles a human.
The broadcaster didn’t mention what features the robot has.
It’s believed that the robot has been deployed for COVID-19 quarantine process. It’s also presumed that disinfection-related data would appear if the display’s touch screen is pressed.
However, some experts here said chances are low for the robot to have played an important role during the COVID-19 quarantine process.
“Robots need a variety of hardware, including LiDAR sensors, to carry out self-driving, image capturing and decoding functions,” said Park Moon-woo, a senior analyst at the National Information Society Agency.
“Unfortunately, however, these types of hardware are classified as strategic assets that are difficult to import into North Korea due to international sanctions.”
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
