AI and Robots Begin Raising Insects at South Korea’s First Insect Industry Hub

South Korea’s first integrated insect industry hub has opened in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, with artificial intelligence and robots managing the breeding process.

Gangwon Province and Chuncheon held a completion ceremony on the 8th in Joyang-ri, Dongsan-myeon, and began full operations. The facility was selected for a Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs project in 2023. It was built with a budget of 20 billion won on a 23,815-square-meter site, with total floor space of 4,154 square meters.

The hub brings together smart breeding facilities, processing equipment for high-quality insect protein, research and development facilities for environmentally friendly biomaterials, and distribution and logistics support. Gangwon Province said an information and communications technology-based automated system can precisely control temperature, humidity and other breeding conditions, improving productivity and quality.

The facility has also established standardized processing for edible and medicinal insects, allowing it to produce and commercialize protein powder, oil and other ingredients. It plans to begin with mealworms for pet food and livestock feed.

Gangwon Province described the operating model as a fully divided system designed to support local farms. The hub will supply high-quality breeding stock, while farms focus on propagation. The hub will then purchase all of the propagated insects and handle standardized mass production, pretreatment and processing. Its smart factory farm operates using five in-house patents, while AI and robots control growth in real time. Smart safety management standards based on HACCP apply throughout breeding and production.