Korea aims to have robots help police on patrols by 2024

• Published date: 02 March 2023
• Publication title: The Korea Times

The government seeks to have self-driving robots to aid police on nighttime patrols by 2024, as part of the expanded use of autonomous mobility vehicles for enhanced public services, the industry ministry said Thursday.

Underpinning the drive is the accelerated commercialization of smart mobility services, the next-generation growth driver widely anticipated to facilitate new business opportunities for the private sector, aided by eased regulations and simplified test runs.

A greater number of robots will be used to promote public safety, faster transport services, environmental protection, medical services and smart farming. These are industries in need of a stable and reliable source of workers, higher productivity and the prevention of workplace accidents ? areas expected to see major breakthroughs with advances in robot technology.

These are some of key measures announced by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy to foster the robotics industry.

"The government has outlined measures to lead innovation in the robotics industry, a goal equally vital as buttressing the demand for strong local market players to capitalize on the global momentum for the new growth driver," said Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Lee Chang-yang.

Data from the ministry showed that the size of the global robotics market is expected to surpass $83.1 billion (108 trillion won) in 2023, up from the current $28.2 billion.

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