대동 DAEDONG

-. Daedong was selected as the sole final consortium and plans to establish a KRW 254.6 billion public-private SPC within this year with LG CNS and Jeollanam-do
-. Daedong has built Korea’s only Agricultural Physical AI value chain spanning AI tractors, agricultural robots, precision farming and smart farms
-. The company is accelerating its transformation beyond equipment sales into an AI-powered agricultural platform services company

 

Daedong (Co-CEOs Kim Jun-sik and Won Yu-hyun) has been selected as the preferred bidder for the National Agricultural AX Platform project led by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The Jeollanam-do consortium, led by Daedong and comprising LG CNS, Daedong Agtech, Daeyoung GS, Art Farm Agricultural Corporation, Jeollanam-do and Muan-gun, was selected as the final consortium on May 28.

 

The National Agricultural AX Platform is the Ministry’s first public-private partnership project designed to tackle structural challenges in agriculture, including extreme weather, labor shortages and the aging rural population, using AI- and data-driven technologies. The public call, which began in February and ran for about two months, included document reviews, presentations and on-site evaluations. In the end, only one consortium was selected. Daedong received strong recognition as Korea’s only Agricultural Physical AI company with integrated capabilities spanning AI-powered autonomous agricultural machinery, agricultural robots, smart farm operations and on-site data collection systems.

 

The consortium plans to establish a public-private special purpose company (SPC) within this year and begin full-scale operations next year. With an initial project budget of KRW 254.6 billion, the consortium will build an advanced AI greenhouse spanning approximately 21.6 hectares, or 65,000 pyeong, in Muan-gun, Jeollanam-do. Using this facility as a foundation, the consortium plans to create an integrated AI farming model that connects data-driven cultivation, automated farm work, and production and distribution. The model will then be developed into a standard platform for nationwide rollout and future global expansion.

 

 

■ Daedong to Develop Korea’s First Fourth-Generation Unmanned Autonomous Farming Model

The project centers on demonstrating Korea’s first fourth-generation unmanned autonomous smart farming model, covering both greenhouses and open-field agriculture. Smart greenhouses have advanced from first-generation plastic greenhouse models to second-generation systems based on automated environmental control, followed by third-generation models that support AI-driven farming decisions. They are now moving into the fourth generation, where robots and AI autonomously manage the entire process from cultivation and harvesting to distribution.

 

Daedong’s strategy is to advance both unmanned greenhouse farming and AI-powered autonomous open-field farming in parallel. By connecting AI tractors, multipurpose agricultural robots, open-field precision farming solutions and greenhouse smart farming solutions, the company plans to establish a farming operation system that requires minimal human intervention. The goal is to create a future farming model that allows stable farm operations even in environments where skilled agricultural workers are in short supply.

 

Daedong is the only company in Korea with integrated capabilities across AI tractors, agricultural robots, precision farming and smart farm operations. In April this year, the company launched Korea’s first AI tractor capable of autonomous operation using camera vision AI. In June, it plans to launch agricultural robots for transport and mowing. Daedong also directly operates smart farms at three locations across Korea, including a 2.4-hectare site in Taean, Chungcheongnam-do, as well as sites in Seoul and Jeju. Its Jeju-based Greenscape, built on a farm-to-table model, has recorded 1.24 million cumulative visitors in just a year and a half since opening. The company is also building an on-site data pipeline to further advance Agricultural Physical AI, drawing on its nationwide network of 130 dealerships and data from hundreds of thousands of farms.

 

 

■ Daedong to Build an AI Autonomous Farming Ecosystem and Evolve into an AI Agricultural Platform Services Company

As the consortium’s lead company, Daedong will oversee the rollout of AI-powered autonomous agricultural machinery, agricultural robots and precision farming solutions, as well as the overall operation of the SPC. The AI tractor and autonomous transport robot launched this year will also be tested in real farming environments through the platform.

 

Daedong Agtech, a Daedong subsidiary, will be responsible for deploying AI cultivation solutions and building advanced greenhouses. LG CNS will build the AI platform and IT infrastructure needed to collect and analyze agricultural environment data, while Daeyoung GS will handle the construction of greenhouses and supporting infrastructure. Art Farm Agricultural Corporation will operate the greenhouses and conduct real-world demonstrations of crop cultivation models. Once completed, the project is expected to create around 300 direct jobs and generate employment effects for approximately 23,000 people over the next 20 years.

 

Daedong expects the agricultural industry to increasingly shift toward data- and AI-driven Agricultural Physical AI. In line with this outlook, the company is moving beyond a hardware-focused business centered on AI tractors and agricultural robots, and is transitioning toward a platform-based model that combines precision farming, AI farm management and AI monitoring services. Through this project, Daedong plans to validate its AI-based agricultural operating model in real farming environments and expand it into a subscription-based agricultural services business that can generate recurring revenue. The company also plans to develop the proven AI farming model into an exportable K-AI agriculture model that can be deployed in global markets.