Myeong-seok Chae, Gounee Yang Global Economic News SAMSUNG and LG have announced their plans to increase investments in robotics after South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol pledged to develop five mega-tech industries including robotics. The robotics market is expected to grow rapidly. The International Federation of Robotics (IFR) predicted that the robotics market will grow by 32% annually to about 211 trillion won (US$173.7 billion) in 2025. The South Korean market is expected to explode considering Yoon’s pledge of doubling down on sectors like artificial intelligence, semiconductors and robotics, bio-health, aerospace, carbon neutrality, and quantum fields. Samsung Electronics had been preparing to enter the robotics market even before the announcement of its recent business plan. Samsung previously established a robotics commercialization TF team in 2020, and changed its name to a “robotics business team” in 2021. LG Electronics has been recruiting experts and specialists from the robotics fields. It said earlier this month that it will develop an integrated robot solution that can manage all logistics processes from warehousing to delivery. It is also strengthening its competitiveness in the B2B (business-to-business) market by launching some new robotic products. | 