Culture ministry backs robot and content tech firms

The culture ministry said Thursday it approved funding for two major projects aimed at bolstering South Korea's robotics competitiveness and expanding the global reach of K-content. The National Growth Fund Operating Council cleared the investments during its latest meeting, targeting mass production facilities for humanoid robots and advanced cinema infrastructure.

Officials cited the urgent need to close a global gap as the primary driver for the robotics investment. While South Korea holds the world's highest robot density in manufacturing, its share of humanoid production remains at just 1 percent. The fund aims to leverage local precision control technology to capture value in the hardware sector, where actuators and robot hands account for 70 percent of total costs.

Wonik Robotics will receive a direct equity injection from the Advanced Strategic Industries Fund to build a robot hand manufacturing plant and an artificial intelligence conversion center in Wanju, North Jeolla Province. The company plans to raise additional funds from private investors, including IMM Credit & Solutions. This funding targets the internalization of core component production and the scaling of its Allegro Hand series, a product line the company has expanded from research models to industrial units capable of high-load tasks since its initial launch in 2012.

In the content sector, CJ 4DPLEX secured support for a project fund to expand its global network of technology-specialized theaters and enhance dedicated content production capabilities. Managed by Glenwood Credit and GNP Invest, the fund includes a contribution from the state, with private financial institutions led by Woori Bank providing the remaining amount. The initiative seeks to establish a stable distribution channel for Korean blockbusters and K-pop concerts overseas through a voluntary screen quota system requiring participating global venues to screen Korean content for at least 14 days annually.