Science ministry, Nature editors discuss humanoid robotics push at KAIST conference

The science ministry said Wednesday it held a luncheon meeting with editors of the international journal Nature and officials from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) on the sidelines of the 2026 Nature Conference at KAIST in Daejeon, where they discussed global robotics research trends and humanoid technology development.

The meeting opened a conference KAIST and Nature are jointly hosting from Oct. 13 to 15 at the KAIST campus. It is the first time Nature has held a conference devoted solely to robotics.

The gathering brought together Kim Sung-soo, head of the ministry's research and development policy office, KAIST President Bae Choong-sik, senior editors including Nature Sensors chief editor Olga Bubnova, and robotics specialists including KAIST professors Myung Hyun and Shim Hyun-chul. They discussed core technologies and unresolved problems in commercializing humanoids, ways to draw on domestic manufacturing and research strengths, and how to expand international joint research.

Kim said humanoid robots and physical AI are core technologies that will determine future national competitiveness. "The science ministry will speed up the creation of a humanoid ecosystem through the three mega-projects and K-Moonshot, and will actively take the views discussed today into account in future humanoid R&D policy," he said.

In a video address, First Vice Minister Koo Hyuk-chae stressed the importance of physical AI, which acts in the real world beyond digital space, and the role of humanoids at the center of that innovation. He said he hoped the conference would promote robotics technology and international research cooperation.

Bae framed the competition in physical AI as a question of how widely AI that understands and moves through the real world can be deployed, rather than how closely a robot resembles a person. He said KAIST would build the underlying technologies needed for sensing, movement and cooperation so they can be used across a range of robots and industries, and would nurture the people and companies to lead that work.