An Analysis of the Industrial Robot Sector’s Competitiveness in Each Stage of the Value Chain, and Implications for Policy

Korea’s industrial robot sector is now the world’s fifth-largest, aided by systematic and consistentgovernment policy over the past decade. It is still heavily reliant on imports for key parts however,and the industry is fragmented, consisting of many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in theabsence of specialized companies with global competitiveness. The sector’s competitiveness lagsbehind in key areas, such as in the development of core-enabling technologies, but also in terms ofsupply chain stability and production technology.This paper analyzes the structure and characteristics of the industry’s value chain, identifyingits strengths and weaknesses in each stage of the chain. Based on the implications carried by theresults of this analysis, we propose a comprehensive set of future-oriented policy considerations