Predicting a manpower shortage over the next few years because of a general population decline and an increase in demand from the high-tech sector, the South Korean Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Energy is working on robotic guards that could take the place of army soldiers:
Hong Ki-doo, director of National Capital Assets within the Commerce Ministry, predicts the government will have to excuse about 10,000 people from military service so that they can work in the information technology, nano-technology and bio-technology fields in the next two to three years. “Military robots that can perform limited duties, like guarding things, will greatly lessen the burden on the army,” he said. The ministry notes that Korea already has the sensor technology needed to build robot guards, and that it would only need three additional years to develop a complete robot system that can substitute for army personnel. It would take another two to three years to deploy the machines in real situations, it said.
