"The number of robot installations fell by five percent to 37,807 units in 2018," says Junji Tsuda, President of the International Federation of Robotics. "Both the electrical and electronics industry and the automotive industry reduced their installations - together they account for 82 percent of total demand in Korea."

Trade dispute
South Korea is affected by the trade dispute between the US and China. The effects can be both positive and negative. The reason: China is an important export country for Korea's primary products. The conflict could therefore lead to a drop in demand from China. At the same time, however, Korean products could replace Chinese products on the market. Overall, however, the South Korean economy finds itself in a difficult environment. The declining demand for electronic products and the announcement of investment cuts by large electronics companies point to another year of declining robot installations.

In the long term, the large-scale use of robots will remain indispensable in South Korea in order to maintain its own competitiveness: By the middle of this century, the country will have one of the oldest populations of all OECD countries, just behind Japan, Italy and Greece. In 2050, more than a third of the population will be over 65 years old and around half of all employees will be aged 50 and over. This explains why South Korea has been an early adopter of robots. This is particularly true for manufacturing. In terms of "robot density", the country ranks second in the world after Singapore. For comparison: with 774 industrial robots per 10,000 employees, the Republic of Korea has more than twice as many units as Germany (3rd place worldwide with 338 units) or Japan (4th place worldwide with 327 units).

Korea's education and training program
The Workforce Development and Training Act, is an important initiative in a whole series of government-sponsored programs. The Workforce Development and Training Act was updated once again in 2019. It provides participants with support in developing skills in the use of robots and automation. With the "Smart Manufacturing Innovation Strategy", the government also announced the training of 50,000 smart factory employees by 2022. The third Robot Basic Plan will also support the training of 2,200 employees for small and medium-sized enterprises by 2023.