JEONJU, South Korea -- Kim Min-young works at a research facility that is developing the next generation of smart farming robots, wrestling with questions such as how to deploy a machine that can perform the delicate task of cutting tomatoes from branches.
The facility is part of a sprawling complex run by South Korea's Rural Development Agency, one of a broad range of research institutions funded and operated by the government. Such state-led efforts to open pathways in science and technology have been a pillar of the country's economic rise since the 1951-53 Korean War.
