▲The Robot Newspaper’ annual “2017 Korea Robot Company of the Year” award ceremony took place on the 20th at the Sheraton Seoul Palace Hotel in Gangnam. CEO of this publication Kyu Nam Cho and Winners pose for photos after the awards ceremony.

The Robot Newspaper’ annual “2017 Korea Robot Company of the Year” award ceremony took place on the 20th at the Sheraton Seoul Palace Hotel in Gangnam.

The award ceremony was attended by the CEOs of the companies who won awards, guests, and important figures in the Robotics Industry such as the director for the Machniery Robotics & Defense Industries Division, Dong-il Park from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy; Executive director for Robot Industry Promotion Division of Korea Institute for Robot Industry Advancement, Jiho Ryu; and General Director of Korea Association of Robot Industry, Yeong-hoon Cho.

The Robot News evaluated the robot companies over the course of the past year and selected companies that made significant contributions towards the progress of Korea’s robot industry. The awards were based on overall considerations such as the company’s contributions and service to the Korean robot industry in the past year, the company’s future growth prospects, leadership (CEO’s management skills), new product launches, and market reactions. The Robot News recognized twelve companies in a total of seven categories that comprised Industrial Robots, Professional Service Robots, Personal Service Robots, Educational Robots, Robot Parts, Robot SW, and Autonomous Driving Systems.

▲ CEO and publisher of this publication Kyu Nam Cho greets the attendees.

At the ceremony, Kyu Nam Cho, CEO of The Robot News remarked, “The companies that are being recognized today differ in their sizes and sales volume, but I am confident that they will lead Korea’s robot industry.” He continued, “Through our partnership with the Chinese robot industry media, Robot-China dot com, we are taking concerted steps to promote promising Korean companies to the Chinese public.”

At the robot industry meeting following the award ceremony, Section Chief for the Department of Mechanical Robot Dong-il Park from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy revealed plans to “hold future meetings to discuss specific issues within the domestic robot industry,” and called for those in the industry to be involved in the process. Industry representatives called for the resolution of difficulties in exporting to the overseas market, an easing of redundancy between government agencies, and substantive implementation of policies for the robot industry.

The following is a look at the selected companies sector by sector: The twelve winners selected according to their respective categories are: △ three companies in the Industrial Robots Category: DST Robot Co. Ltd. (www.dstrobot.com, CEO: Jing Cheon, Myong-kyu Choi); TES Co., Ltd. (www.tes-robot.com, CEO: Seung-wook Ahn); NEUROMEKA (www.neuromeka.com, CEO: Jong-hoon Park) △ Two companies in the Professional Service Robots Category: FUTUREROBOT Co. Ltd. (www.futurerobot.com, CEO: Se-kyeong Song); MAROROBOTECH (www.marorobot.com, CEO: Deok-geun Kim); △ Two companies in the Personal Service Robots Category: YUJIN ROBOT Co., Ltd. (www.yujinrobot.com, CEO: Kyeong Cheol Shin); RF Co., Ltd. (www.rof.co.kr, CEO: Soonbok Lee) △ Two companies in the Educational Robots Category: ROBOTIS Inc. (www.robotis.com, CEO: Byoung Soo Kim); ROBOROBO Co., Ltd. (www.roborobo.co.kr, CEO: Chang-nam Jang) △ One company in the Robot Parts Category: SBB TECH Co., Ltd. (www.sbb.co.kr, CEO: Boo Rak Lee) △ One company in the Robot Software Category: Wonderful Platform ( www.1thefull.com, CEO: Seung Yub Koo) △ One category in the Autonomous Navigation Robots Category: Unmanned Solution (www.unmansol.com, CEO: Hee Chang Moon).

Five of the above companies won this year’s award as well as last year’s. In the Professional Service Robots Category, FUTUREROBOT Co. Ltd; in the Personal Service Robots Category, YUJIN ROBOT Co., Ltd and RF; in the Educational Robots Category, ROBOROBO Co., Ltd; and in the Autonomous Navigation Robots Category, Unmanned Solution were awarded this honor last year as well.