The Daegu Metropolitan Government announced Monday that it signed an investment agreement with Daesung Hitech, a precision parts manufacturer, to build an "artificial intelligence (AI) Medical Factory."
Under the agreement, Daesung Hitech will invest 30 billion won ($21 million) to establish the AI Medical Factory, a dedicated medical device production hub, on its headquarters site within Daegu Technopolis.
The facility aims to begin full operations in September, with plans to gradually expand mass production lines through 2029.
The factory's flagship product will be the introducer catheter, an essential medical device for minimally invasive interventional procedures.
South Korea currently relies entirely on imports for its domestic demand of the device, making localization urgent. Multiple domestic medical companies have already expressed intent to purchase the locally produced catheters.
Daesung Hitech plans to break away from conventional manual processes by adopting an AI autonomous manufacturing system that integrates AI vision inspection, collaborative robots and process intelligence technologies.
The company will also channel 12 billion won in government subsidies — secured through the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's "AI Autonomous Manufacturing Leading Project" — into research and development to advance its technology.
Founded in 1995, Daesung Hitech is a niche manufacturer that supplies core components for advanced industries including semiconductors, information technology and electric vehicles, based on ultra-precision machining technology that tolerates no margin of error beyond one micrometer.
In 2014, the company acquired Nomura DS, a Japanese automatic lathe brand with 70 years of history, securing world-class Swiss-turn automatic lathe manufacturing technology. It currently exports related products to 27 countries.
More recently, Daesung Hitech has been expanding into the defense and robotics sectors.
"Building on the technological capabilities accumulated in precision parts, we are now making a full-scale entry into medical devices, following defense, robotics and AI data centers," CEO Choi Ho-hyung said. "We will secure global competitiveness in the high-value-added medical device market through our AI autonomous manufacturing system."
Kim Jeong-gi, acting Daegu mayor and deputy mayor for administration, said, "We will spare no effort in providing full support for the successful establishment of Daesung Hitech's AI Medical Factory and its preemptive entry into global markets, as it is a leading local materials, parts and equipment company."