Defence
Rise of the robots
School boys in South Korea hoping that national conscription would come to an end with a denuclearised north would have read Donald Trump's letter to Kim Jong-un with a tinge of sadness. But a new, more predictable saviour could be at hand. Under president Moon Jae-in, one idea to boost the military’s battle-readiness has renewed momentum: robots. The hardware is expected to run the gamut from surveillance drones and unmanned reconnaissance vehicles to self-shooting howitzers. They could be sent on patrol along borders, used to detect and disable mines, and dispatched to eliminate the threat of biological, chemical and possibly even nuclear weaponry. Much of the equipment is slated to start seeing action from 2025, eventually replacing some 37,000 frontline troops and technicians.