South Korea Accelerates Apparel Automation with AI and Robotics

South Korea apparel automation with AI and robotics gains real momentum across its textile and apparel manufacturing sector. The country is pushing forward factoryfloor upgrades to solve pressing domestic industry challenges.

South Korea Apparel Automation: Government‑Funded Industry Projects

According to industry sources on the 21st, Hansae has signed a contract with Realworld, a robotic gripper technology company, and is reviewing ways to apply AI and robots to its apparel production lines.
The South Korean government is advancing a hightech future textiles development program with 310 billion won (approximately $222.4 million) in funding starting in 2028. Meanwhile, U.S.based CreateMe is also developing automated garment assembly systems.
The overall goal is to boost productivity by integrating AI across the entire textile manufacturing process. This covers yarn spinning, dyeing, fabric processing and sewing workstations.
AI adoption within the textile industry is expanding fast. It no longer limits itself to design work or demand forecasting. Today artificial intelligence supports realworld manufacturing steps including fabric cutting, sewing and automated quality inspection.
South Korea’s domestic manufacturing base has weakened because of rising labour costs and an ageing production workforce. For this reason, replacing traditional handdependent garment processes with AI and robotics has become an urgent priority for local stakeholders.

Global Reference: Automation Development Outside South Korea

Efforts to revive apparel production bases using AI are also underway outside South Korea.

U.S. fashiontech company CreateMe is developing a production system that tracks fabric positioning in realtime to automatically assemble garments. The firm already holds more than 95 related technical patents for apparel automation.

 Why South Korea Speeds Up AIDriven Textile Transformation

Behind the South Korean textile industry’s accelerating AI adoption lies a deep sense of crisis over its shrinking domestic production base.

South Korea’s textile industry once led national exports back in the 1960s and 1970s. However, many production facilities relocated to China and Vietnam as labour and production costs kept climbing.

On top of offshoring, the ageing domestic workforce creates growing difficulties to recruit skilled sewing operators and factory workers.

“If only design and planning remain in South Korea while the production base disappears, Kfashion’s growth will inevitably hit a ceiling,” said an industry insider.

“If labourheavy workflows such as cutting and sewing can be automated with AI and robots, it will ease labour shortages and help preserve the local domestic manufacturing base.”