South Korean care robot companies are forming a joint body to push for changes in laws and rules they say block commercialization, as the government prepares to expand the use of artificial intelligence and robots in elderly care from next year in response to the country's super-aged society. The companies argue that government pilot programs alone cannot spread the market, because there is no legal definition of indoor care robots and no standards for safety or liability.
More than 10 care robot companies, including SK Intellix, Hyodol and Roaizen, are preparing to launch a "wellness robot council" within this year, according to industry sources on the 5th. Once the council is established, the Korea AI and Robot Industry Association (KAR) will serve as its secretariat and relay industry views to the Ministry of Health and Welfare and other agencies. The council has made regulatory reform, including a revision of the Intelligent Robots Act, its core task in building a foundation for commercializing care robots.
The companies moved to act together because rulemaking for commercialization has lagged while government support has concentrated on pilot projects and research. In April, the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Science and ICT released a strategy to support AI care technology across its full life cycle, covering research and development, field testing, commercialization and regulatory linkage. In its budget plan for next year, the health ministry newly allocated 37.7 billion won for deploying care robots in homes and facilities and for supporting the commercialization of home-use care robots, along with 14.5 billion won for care technology research and development. Care robots are also included in the physical AI pilot project, one of three government-wide mega-projects. The government plans to introduce about 2,000 domestically made AI robots in the public sector in connection with physical AI field testing, with 200 of them assigned to care services. Budgets and pilot volumes are rising quickly, the industry says, but the legal basis and standards needed to sustain a market after the testing phase remain absent.
The biggest obstacle is the absence of a legal definition for indoor care robots. The current Intelligent Robots Act sets out detailed requirements for outdoor mobile robots, including safety certification and liability insurance. Care robots used in homes or nursing facilities, by contrast, have no separate standards for safety, liability or operation. It is also unclear who bears responsibility in the event of an accident and how data collected in homes should be handled.
The broad scope of care robots is another issue to resolve. The category ranges from robots that assist physical activity, such as repositioning a patient or helping with movement, to products that provide medication guidance and emotional interaction, requiring discussion of how to set safety standards and operating principles for each type. Kim Tae-sung, chief executive of Caring, said the care robots that older adults actually need do not have only one function. "The key is meeting several needs at once, from daily living support such as cleaning, mobility, meals and medication guidance to companionship, emotional interaction and safety checks," the CEO said.
Institutional incentives to sustain the market after public pilots end are also lacking. In South Korea, bringing in a care robot to ease the workload of care workers does not earn a separate long-term care reimbursement rate or an exemption from staffing requirements. The government included AI care robots in the main benefit list for welfare equipment this year, but no product has yet been registered as eligible.
Industry officials say regulatory support should be strengthened by looking at countries such as Japan, which adopted care robots earlier. After defining care robots as a policy concept in 2012 and designating priority areas for applying robot technology to care, Japan has steadily increased support for development, field testing and adoption. Since 2024, it has paid a productivity improvement incentive to facilities that meet certain requirements through the use of care technology such as robots and sensors, and has applied exemptions from staffing standards to some facilities.
Some also point to the need for data training infrastructure tailored to indoor care robots. Unlike industrial robots that move in standardized spaces such as logistics warehouses, care robots must handle variables that differ from home to home, including door thresholds and slippery floors, while carefully assisting older adults with limited mobility. "A separate training center should be built based on actual movement data from skilled care workers, and clear standards should be set for handling data collected in homes, so that everyone can adopt care robots with confidence," Kim said.
The council plans to demonstrate the effectiveness of domestically made care robots through welfare equipment benefits and public pilots, and to use that evidence as grounds for regulatory reform and market expansion. "Discussion on spreading the market over the medium and long term after development and field testing is still insufficient," an official at SK Intellix said. "We are also reviewing ways to prepare technical standards for the care robot industry based on joint field testing data from the industry."
