Korea's Surgical Robotics Ecosystem: Chip-Equipment Makers, a Yakult Company and Hospitals Are All Building Robots
Updated: Oct 24
Most people know Korea for chips, cars and batteries. Fewer know that it is also one of the most active markets for robotic surgery in the world, and that a group of Korean surgical robot makers is now starting to sell abroad.
What makes the Korean ecosystem unusual is who is building these robots. Many of the companies did not start in medical devices at all. They are using surgical robotics to diversify, and they bring very different strengths with them.
1. A large market, mostly paid out of pocket
Intuitive's da Vinci system arrived in Korea in 2005. By mid-2026, Korean hospitals had performed close to 500,000 da Vinci procedures, with more than 80,000 in 2025 alone. According to Intuitive's analysis of national health data, robot-assisted procedures rose from about 6% of relevant surgeries in 2019 to about 16% in 2025. Korea was also the second market in the world, after the United States, to launch the latest da Vinci 5, in October 2024.
Most robotic surgery is not covered by the national health insurance, so patients pay out of pocket, often supported by private indemnity insurance. Whether and how to bring robotic surgery into public coverage remains an open debate, and any change would reshape pricing for every company in the market.
Competition is growing. Medtronic's Hugo system is approved in Korea after a pivotal trial at Seoul National University Hospital, and Stryker's Mako is widely used in joint replacement.
2. Where Korea's surgical robot makers come from
From semiconductors. Koh Young Technology is a world leader in 3D inspection equipment for electronics and chip packaging, with customers such as TSMC. It applied its 3D measurement know-how to a brain surgery robot, sold abroad as Geniant Cranial. Its new businesses, including the robot, grew to 17% of revenue in the first quarter of 2026, according to a broker report.
From display equipment. meerecompany built its business on display manufacturing equipment and developed Revo-i, a laparoscopic surgical robot, over more than a decade. Surgical robots now make up about 10 to 15% of its sales. Revo-i is used at hospitals including Severance and has been exported to countries including Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Paraguay, Tunisia and Morocco.
From fermented milk. Curexo is controlled by hy, the company formerly known as Korea Yakult, which took over Curexo in 2011 as part of a move into healthcare and holds about 31%. hy kept investing through years of losses. Today Curexo sells CUVIS robots for joint replacement and spine surgery; the spine robot is FDA-cleared, and THINK Surgical holds US and European distribution rights for the joint robot.
From hospital supply. WSI started as a distributor of spine treatments and medical devices to about 400 Korean hospitals and clinics, and is now moving into manufacturing. Its subsidiary EasyMedibot developed U-BOT, which the company describes as the world's first robotic uterine manipulator for laparoscopic surgery. In gynecologic surgery, an assistant usually holds and moves the uterus by hand for hours; U-BOT does this under the surgeon's joystick control, so one surgeon can operate alone. It was developed with a Seoul National University Hospital gynecology team, holds US and European patents, and was in the final stage of Korean approval as of September 2026.
From hospitals themselves. Lee Choon Taek Hospital in Suwon, a government-designated joint specialty hospital, performed Korea's first robotic joint replacement with ROBODOC in 2002. Drawing on some 15,000 robotic cases, its research institute developed its own robot, Dr. LCT, with a seven-axis arm designed around Korean patients' anatomy and approved for manufacture as a Class 3 device. L&N Robotics, whose CEO Choi Jae-soon heads the biomedical engineering research institute at Asan Medical Center, grew out of the same kind of clinical engineering.
From conglomerates and startups. Samsung Electronics is the largest shareholder of Rainbow Robotics, which builds the body of a humanoid surgical assistant for Samsung Medical Center. Hyundai Motor Group's wearable robot X-ble MEX received Korean approval for rehabilitation in November 2025, and Doosan Robotics signed a partnership with EasyMedibot in 2024. Venture-backed startups such as ROEN Surgical and EndoRobotics complete the picture.
3. Niche first, then global
Korean companies have not tried to take on da Vinci head-on. They pick a specialty and move it through foreign regulators.
Koh Young won FDA 510(k) clearance for its brain surgery robot in January 2025 and Japanese approval in January 2026. ROEN Surgical's Zamenix, a robot for kidney stone surgery using flexible ureteroscopes, was cleared by the FDA in August 2026. EndoRobotics, which makes robot-assisted devices for endoscopic removal of early gastrointestinal cancers, signed an exclusive global distribution agreement with Olympus in May 2026. The pattern is clear: Korean technology, global regulatory clearance, and often a Western or Japanese partner for distribution.
4. Vascular robots: a global gap
L&N Robotics has developed AVIAR, a robot that lets cardiologists steer guidewires, balloons and stents from a console during coronary stenting, away from the X-ray source. It has Korean approval, was designated an innovative medical technology in December 2024, which allows conditional hospital use while clinical evidence is collected, and began treating general patients at Asan Medical Center in April 2026. The company raised KRW 20 billion (about US$15 million) in a 2024 Series B round led by LB Investment to fund approvals in the US, Europe and Japan.
The timing is interesting. Siemens Healthineers, which led this field after buying Corindus in 2019, stopped selling and developing its CorPath GRX robot for cardiology in 2023, taking a charge of about €329 million, and refocused on neurovascular use. Meanwhile, the US ARPA-H has just funded seven teams to develop autonomous robots for stroke interventions. Fewer established players in coronary robotics, and new US public funding for vascular autonomy, put a Korean company with real patient experience in an unusual position.
5. Government support
The Korean government is also backing the field. Its Korean ARPA-H program, modeled on the US agency, will spend KRW 1.16 trillion (about US$870 million) from 2024 to 2032 on high-risk health projects, including a humanoid surgical assistant led by Samsung Medical Center with Rainbow Robotics and Aidin Robotics. We look at Korea's ARPA-H in detail in a separate post.
What this means for medtech companies, investors and EDOs
Look beyond medtech for partners. In Korea, the next surgical robot partner may be a chip-equipment maker, a consumer company or a hospital. Their parents bring manufacturing scale, cash and clinical access that pure startups lack.
Korea can be a first market in Asia. High-volume hospitals, experienced robotic surgeons and patients used to paying for new technology make Korea a strong place for clinical validation and early adoption, as Medtronic's Hugo trial shows.
Korean device makers need partners abroad. Olympus–EndoRobotics and THINK Surgical–Curexo show the pattern: Korean technology, Western distribution. Distributors, contract manufacturers and regulatory consultants can find good deal flow here.
Expect Korean companies to set up in the US. With FDA clearances in hand or planned, companies such as Koh Young, ROEN Surgical and L&N Robotics are building US sales and service. For economic development organizations, these are early leads for offices, training centers and, eventually, assembly.
Watch vascular robotics and reimbursement. With Siemens out of cardiology and ARPA-H funding autonomous endovascular robots, vascular robotics is a space to watch. In Korea, a change in public coverage for robotic surgery would affect pricing and volumes for everyone.
The bottom line
Korea's surgical robotics ecosystem is being built by an unusual mix of chip and display equipment makers, a fermented-milk company, distributors, hospitals and conglomerates. That diversity is a strength: it brings capital, manufacturing know-how and clinical access together. For medtech companies and investors, Korea is both a market and a source of partners. For EDOs, the next wave of Korean medtech investment in the US is already forming.
If you are a medtech company, an investor or an economic development organization looking to work with Korean hospitals and device makers, we would be glad to help. Contact us at info@globalrika.com.
About the data
Procedure figures are company figures reported by Korean media in June 2026. The 6% to 16% share is Intuitive's analysis of Korean health data. Business mix figures are from company reports and broker research. Regulatory milestones are from company announcements and the FDA database. Program budgets and timelines are from government announcements and may change. US dollar figures are approximate, converted at about KRW 1,330 per dollar.
Sources
Money Today and Medical Daily, Intuitive Surgical Korea media day (June 30, 2026)
Dailypharm, robotic surgery reimbursement (2026) and meerecompany Revo-i (2026)
Hankyung and broker research, Koh Young new businesses (2025–2026)
KED Global and Koh Young, Geniant Cranial FDA and PMDA approvals (2025–2026)
Etoday and Kiwoom Securities, hy (Korea Yakult) and Curexo (2014–2026)
Orthoworld and THINK Surgical, Curexo CUVIS-spine and CUVIS-joint
Edaily, Newspim and Medigate News, WSI and EasyMedibot U-BOT (2024–2026)
Etnews, Edaily and FN News, Lee Choon Taek Hospital and Dr. LCT (2021–2026)
FDA 510(k) database (K253505) and Asia Economy, ROEN Surgical Zamenix (August 2026)
Olympus, global distribution agreement with EndoRobotics (May 4, 2026)
Hankyung, L&N Robotics AVIAR at Asan Medical Center (April 7, 2026); Money Today, L&N Robotics Series B (July 2024)
MD+DI and DOTmed, Siemens Healthineers ends cardiology robotics (May 2023)
ARPA-H, AIR program awards (August 12, 2026); Daily Medi, Korean ARPA-H project
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