Gimhae City to Build Korea's First 'Robot Refurbishment Center'

Architectural Design Competition Until April, Selection by End of April

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Seryeong] Gimhae City, Gyeongnam Province, is promoting an architectural design competition to establish a used robot remanufacturing Robot Refurb Center.

According to the city on the 8th, the Robot Refurb Center will be built on a 1,650㎡ site in the Gimhae Technovalley General Industrial Complex, Jinrye-myeon, with three above-ground floors and a total area of 1,888㎡.

A total project cost of 21.5 billion KRW, including 10 billion KRW of city funds, national funds, provincial funds, and private capital, has been invested.

The center will house shared equipment rooms, 12 types of equipment, corporate office spaces, conference rooms, and a promotional hall, serving as a support hub facility for the robot refurbishing industry.

The city announced that it was finally selected last year in the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's competition for the used robot remanufacturing Robot Refurb Center infrastructure project, becoming the first in the nation to establish such a center.

Gimhae City Hall, Gyeongnam. [Photo by Gimhae City Hall]

The city plans to receive submissions through the competition from February to April, conduct evaluations, and select the winning design by the end of April.

Subsequently, from May to September, detailed design services will be carried out, with the center's construction scheduled to be completed by December next year.

Once completed, the center is expected to create about 300 jobs and increase corporate productivity by approximately 55% through ▲testing, evaluation, and certification projects ▲robot technology and prototype development projects ▲equipment-linked national projects and equipment rental businesses ▲export of refurbished robots.

It is also anticipated to contribute to the long-term development of the used robot remanufacturing industry by supporting technology development for used robot remanufacturing, improving trust in remanufactured product quality through performance evaluation and quality certification, fostering specialized companies, supporting workforce training, and expert networking.

A city official stated, “Through this project, we plan to enhance the technological competitiveness of the used robot resource recycling industry and establish a foundation for fostering a city-specialized industry capable of design and verification using used robot and parts refurbishing technology, advanced technology development, and reliability testing support.”

Mayor Hong Taeyong said, “Through the Robot Refurb Center, the first of its kind established domestically, we expect our city to become a hub for the robot refurbishing industry, securing next-generation growth engines by leading not only the domestic market but also the Asian and global markets.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.