○ AIRobot demonstration·manpower·Building a core infrastructure encompassing regulatory innovation
○Agriculture·erection·food tech·By logistics AI Expansion of the robotics industry
○ Local companies AX·Accelerating the transition to robotics, Completion of the full-cycle industrial ecosystem
Jeonbuk Special Self-Governing Province has declared 2026 as the "first year of fostering the AI robot industry" and is moving forward with the creation of a robot industry cluster.
On the 9th, Jeonbuk Autonomous Province Governor Kim Kwan-young held a press conference in the provincial government briefing room and announced the “AI Robot Industry Cluster Creation Plan,” saying, “We will foster Jeonbuk as a base for AI robot verification and industrialization in Korea.”
This plan is a strategy designed to respond to the global trend of accelerating industrial transformation toward robotics and AI amid structural changes such as low birth rates, an aging population, and rising production costs. The global robotics market is projected to grow threefold, from $282 billion in 2021 to $831 billion in 2030.
The province plans to collaborate with central government agencies to establish a "robot manufacturing parts cluster" that will enable free R&D and demonstration testing, offering various incentives. While maximizing synergies through linkages with physical AI-based demonstration projects, the province will also promote AI robot innovation designation centered around the physical AI demonstration valley, applying demonstration exemptions and deregulation to accelerate field testing and industrial expansion of the technology.
First, to establish a cluster, core infrastructure will be built around a "Collaborative Intelligence-Based Physical AI Demonstration Valley" worth a total of 1 trillion won. The plan is to establish a demonstration metafactory that embodies a real-world industrial environment, enabling immediate field validation of research technologies.
Here, specialized verification infrastructure for each industry will be established in stages, including the Gimje Intelligent Agricultural Machinery Demonstration Complex (KRW 1,066 billion by 2027), the Namwon Smart APC AI Robot Demonstration Center, and the Saemangeum Marine Unmanned Robot Demonstration Testbed (KRW 214 billion by 2027).
In addition, we will expand educational infrastructure, including local universities, and systematically cultivate specialized personnel through a virtuous cycle of education, training, and employment linked to local universities.
In terms of industrial expansion, four key sectors will be intensively fostered: agriculture, construction, food tech, and logistics. In agriculture, a national industrial complex for smart farms and AI-based intelligent agricultural robots will be completed in Gimje by 2033. In the construction sector, KRW 427 billion will be invested by 2030 to develop and test a system that replaces high-risk tasks like welding and painting with robots.
In the food tech sector, the National Food Cluster will be utilized to establish an infrastructure for AI robot-based custom food demonstration and manufacturing, and in the logistics sector, an unmanned autonomous transportation system connecting industrial complexes, ports, and airports will be gradually established in conjunction with the Saemangeum autonomous driving demonstration site.
In addition, the province plans to support startups and scale-ups by attracting leading companies in the AI robot core components and systems sector and establishing an AI robot fund, and to establish a platform for mutually beneficial cooperation that matches large and medium-sized enterprises with small and medium-sized enterprises.
North Jeolla Province accounts for over 95% of the nation's commercial vehicle production and boasts a diverse, low-volume production base, particularly in special-purpose vehicles and agricultural machinery. This strength facilitates the transition to a flexible and customized robotics industry. Saemangeum, in particular, boasts an optimal location for businesses, with its concentration of manufacturing, assembly, testing, and logistics facilities, including the MOTIE site, port, and power supply.
Jeonbuk Autonomous Province Governor Kim Kwan-young said, “This strategy is significant in that it goes beyond mere demonstration of AI robot technology and establishes a full-cycle model that connects it to industrial and corporate growth.” He added, “We will foster Jeonbuk as Korea’s leading AI robot demonstration and industrialization hub, leading to the creation of quality jobs and a leap forward in the regional economy.”