Industrial robotics and automation company T-Robotics hit the daily ceiling, surging 29.95 percent to 12,540 won and leading gains on the secondary market.
The main KOSDAQ index advanced 2.8 percent to 774.54 as of 11:30 a.m.
The buying swept through nearly every corner of the robotics chain. Actuator and precision-gear supplier SPG jumped 23.33 percent to 81,400 won, automation equipment maker Coses climbed 23.02 percent to 26,450 won and Samsung-backed humanoid robot developer Rainbow Robotics advanced 19.81 percent to 493,000 won.
Motion-control component maker Samhyun rose 16.19 percent to 32,650 won, while industrial robot manufacturer Robotstar gained 15.11 percent to 67,800 won. Robot actuator and platform developer Robotis added 14.72 percent to 226,000 won, robot software company Clobot climbed 13.98 percent to 26,500 won and home-service robot maker Everybot rose 11.42 percent to 14,050 won.
The spark came from Samsung Electronics which on Tuesday said it had established the RX, or Robotics eXperience, Division to take charge of robotics strategy, core technology development and business execution as it seeks to build the sector into a new growth engine.
The move marks Samsung’s most significant organizational push into robotics since it began expanding the business in 2021 and raised expectations that the country’s largest technology company could pull a wider network of parts suppliers, software developers and equipment makers into the physical AI race.
Investors also found a more immediate trigger in the military.
Rainbow Robotics and Hyundai Rotem are expected to begin deploying the RB-01K military robot dog with the South Korean Army later this year. Rainbow Robotics manufactures the quadruped platform, while Hyundai Rotem equips it with military sensors, remote-control systems and weapons-related technology for combat use.
The project has put suppliers such as SPG under the spotlight because actuators — the motorized joints that allow the robot’s four legs to bend, balance and move — are among the most critical components in a quadruped system.
The army could eventually deploy as many as 1,000 units. The robot dogs are expected to patrol bases, enter hazardous areas before soldiers and respond to terrorist threats, allowing the military to carry out more missions with fewer personnel.
The image of four-legged machines moving ahead of troops is no longer confined to demonstrations or science fiction.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, Ukraine has expanded the use of unmanned ground vehicles to move supplies, evacuate wounded soldiers and inspect dangerous terrain. The U.S. military has tested robot dogs for patrol, surveillance and explosive detection, while China has showcased armed quadruped robots in military exercises as part of its AI-driven modernization campaign.
Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang’s remarks during his Seoul visit last month also continued to reverberate through the market.
Huang described robotics as South Korea’s next major growth industry, arguing that the country’s position as a global manufacturing powerhouse gives it an advantage in deploying physical AI across factories, logistics networks and other industries.
His comments helped reinforce the idea that South Korea could become not merely a user of industrial robots but a broader production base for the sensors, actuators, software and machine intelligence needed to make them operate autonomously.
Wednesday’s rally also carried the force of a rebound after months of steep losses.
According to IBK Investment & Securities, the combined market value of major domestic robotics companies more than tripled from about 16 trillion won in August last year to 49 trillion won in early June, only to collapse to 23 trillion won as of July 20.
Samsung’s latest move has restored some of the excitement, but the brokerage cautioned that the sector’s next leg higher will depend less on organizational announcements and futuristic demonstrations than on whether investment produces commercial products, repeat orders and tangible earnings.
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