[2026 Audit] Chinese Humanoid Robot Appears at Assembly... "Korea Lags in Physical AI Investment"

Lee Jeongheon of the Democratic Party Demonstrates Robots During Audit Session
Bae Kyunghoon: "Physical AI Investment Has Been Seriously Lacking... We Will Begin Full-Scale Investment"

A Chinese-made humanoid robot drew attention during the National Assembly audit of the Ministry of Science and ICT. The government announced that it would ramp up investment in the physical AI sector, an area where Korea lags behind major countries such as China.

On October 6, during the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee's audit of the Ministry of Science and ICT, Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Jeongheon brought two humanoid robots into the chamber while participating in a question-and-answer session. Each robot, produced by China's Unitree and Agibot, entered the hall, shook hands with lawmakers, and performed a group dance in sync with music.

On the 6th, during the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information, Broadcasting, and Communications Committee's audit, a Chinese-made humanoid robot appeared at the audit venue and was demonstrated while Lee Jeonghun, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party of Korea, was questioning. Photo by Yonhap News

Representative Lee then unveiled videos of the humanoid production plants and robot learning centers in Beijing that he had visited himself, stating, "Unlike universities or research institutes in Korea, which only assemble one or two units, these facilities have established mass production systems. Hundreds of robots were operating according to demonstration scenarios, accumulating physical data."

According to Representative Lee's office, 4,200 Unitree robots and over 5,200 Agibot robots were produced last year. Agibot ranked first in global production volume in 2025, and the world’s top six humanoid robot makers by production output were all Chinese companies. In China, there are 160 companies manufacturing complete humanoids, more than 600 companies supplying core components, and approximately 30 billion yuan (about 6.4 trillion won) is invested in the robotics industry each year.

Lee pointed out, "In Korea, only 53 of 2,814 AI companies—or just 1.9%—are hardware companies involved in humanoids and similar fields. Among these, 29 have not attracted any external investment."

Bae Kyunghoon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT, acknowledged, "Until now, the amount of investment has been seriously insufficient." He added, "Through three major mega projects, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Ministry of Science and ICT plan to jointly begin full-fledged investments in the physical AI sector."

He continued, "We also intend to ensure competitiveness in data and AI/software areas, including robot foundation models. We are preparing to develop humanoid robots and a robotics ecosystem that can be practically used in industrial sites."

On the 6th, during the National Assembly audit held by the Science, Technology, Information and Communication Committee, a Chinese-made humanoid robot that completed a demonstration is leaving the audit hall while Lee Jeongheon, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, is questioning. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.