Remarks made at launch of Construction Robotics Innovation Forum
"Physical AI is opening up new possibilities for the construction industry and will transform it into a safer and more sustainable sector."
Kim I-tak, first vice minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, made the remarks Tuesday at the launch of the Construction Robotics Innovation Forum, an open collaborative platform bringing together industry, academia, research institutions and government to spread robot technology on construction sites.
Kim said the government has earmarked 58.5 billion won ($43.9 million) in next year's budget proposal for CO.AX (Construction & Operation AX), the government's first support project for construction robots on job sites, and pledged to swiftly advance legislation to support the development and use of construction robots.
The forum, launched Tuesday, will operate as a smart construction network through an open collaborative framework involving the public and private sectors, industry, academia and research institutions. It plans to reform laws and regulations to reflect the specific characteristics of construction robots, establish a foundation for technology, safety and data, and pursue on-site communication with construction companies and robotics firms.
To put those goals into practice, the forum will identify tasks through three working groups — covering policy and regulation, technology and safety, and industry and data — and work toward a broad transformation of the construction industry encompassing technology verification, industry-wide adoption and regulatory reform. Han Dong-min, head of the Korea Construction Equipment Safety Management Institute, and Kim Seok-gi, director general of the construction policy bureau at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, were named co-chairs.
Co-chair Han presented the forum's launch background and activity plans at the ceremony, pledging that the forum would go beyond simply deploying robots on construction sites and instead play a central role in building an ecosystem for broader industry change — improving construction quality, safety management, workforce operations and productivity — and driving the sector's transition into a future industry.
smh@heraldcorp.com
