As Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province (Gyeongbuk) have been selected as the nation's first specialized zone for the national advanced strategic industry in robotics, attention is focused on the potential impact on Doosan Robotics. Doosan Robotics previously signed a business agreement with Daegu Metropolitan City to foster the humanoid and AI advanced robot industries, highlighting its business alignment with the new specialized zone policy.

■ First Robot Specialized Zone Designated for the Daegu-Gyeongbuk Region

Following the designation of robotics as an advanced strategic technology in December 2024, the government has been pursuing the designation of a national advanced strategic industry specialized zone for robotics. Daegu, along with Gumi and Pohang in Gyeongbuk, has now been selected as the first specialized zone in the robotics field, grouped as a single region.

The government plans to leverage the region's high robot demand, manufacturing competitiveness, and the clustering effect of related industries to build a next-generation humanoid production hub. The key goal is to create a full-cycle humanoid industrial ecosystem spanning research and development (R&D), core components, finished product manufacturing, demonstration, and commercialization.

Notably, by designating Daegu, Gumi, and Pohang as one integrated specialized zone rather than separate regions, the government is expected to pursue a strategy to strengthen linkages between components, materials, manufacturing, and demand industries. As the robot industry shifts from simple finished-product production to a structure combining component supply chains, software, AI, and demonstration infrastructure, whether related companies' business opportunities will expand is also a point of interest.

■ Doosan Robotics Already Secured a Link Through Agreement with Daegu

Doosan Robotics operates manufacturing and solutions businesses centered on collaborative robots within the industrial robot sector. Under its articles of incorporation, the company's business purposes include the manufacturing and sale of industrial, service, and intelligent robots, as well as robot components, system integration, and software businesses.

A connection between Doosan Robotics and the Daegu region has already been established. In July 2025, the company signed a business agreement for cooperation in fostering the humanoid and AI advanced robot industries with Daegu Metropolitan City and related companies including HD Hyundai Robotics, Neuromeka, LS Mtron, and Samick THK. The agreement included technology innovation, business promotion, building inter-company cooperation models, and demonstration linkages.

Accordingly, the designation of the Daegu-Gyeongbuk robot specialized zone is drawing attention because it could dovetail with the regional robot industry cooperation framework Doosan Robotics is already participating in.

■ Collaborative Robots and AI Solutions Could Create New Demand Sources

If R&D, demonstration, and finished-product manufacturing bases expand within the specialized zone, companies supplying collaborative robots and AI-based robot solutions could see new demand sources emerge.

Doosan Robotics currently offers a diverse lineup of collaborative robots for use in manufacturing sites. The company supplies collaborative robots capable of precision work based on its proprietary torque sensors, and applies its solutions to various manufacturing automation areas including machining, assembly, and inspection.

■ Key Issue Is the Pace of Policy Commercialization... "Watch Out for Time Lag in Earnings Reflection"

Going forward, the market's focus is expected to center on how quickly the policy announcement translates into actual business. If new facility investments, demonstration projects, and orders for finished robots and core components within the specialized zone become concrete, it could affect order opportunities for Doosan Robotics and other related companies.

However, it has not been confirmed that Doosan Robotics has secured any specific scale of government support or new orders as a result of the specialized zone designation. A time lag may exist between policy expectations and actual earnings, so it is necessary to monitor future announcements on detailed projects, selection of participating companies, and investment plans.

As the government fosters robotics as a national advanced strategic industry and designates Daegu-Gyeongbuk as the first specialized zone, the center of gravity of Korea's robot industry is expanding from R&D to production, demonstration, and commercialization. What role Doosan Robotics will secure in the expansion of the humanoid industrial ecosystem, based on its existing cooperation with Daegu, is expected to be a key point to watch going forward.

[This article was written based on publicly available government policy materials and corporate documents, and does not recommend buying or selling any specific stock. Policy implementation and specialized zone designation do not necessarily lead to orders or earnings improvements for individual companies, and the scope of business participation and investment scale must be confirmed through future official announcements. Investment decisions and responsibility rest with the investor, and AI assistance was used for some data organization and sentence composition.]