Science museum expands high-tech expedition to winter session for children

The National Science Museum will run a winter session of its high-tech technology expedition for children on Dec. 5-6, the science ministry said Friday, extending a program that began in 2025 as visits to remote schools to include children from child welfare facilities.

The two-day event at the museum's special exhibition hall will let children see and operate drones, self-driving robots, humanoid robots and artificial intelligence robots at close range. Sessions run three times a day, at 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m., with up to 100 participants per session and no fee.

The first day is reserved for elementary school students who use child welfare facilities, with the second day open to individual members of the public. Institution officials can begin applying on Nov. 9, while general participants can register from 10 a.m. on Nov. 23 on a first-come, first-served basis.

From the summer of 2026, the museum began inviting children from welfare facilities into the museum itself, widening what had been an outreach effort into a two-way program. The expedition started in 2025 as a visiting program that took the robots directly to elementary schools in remote islands and mountain villages across the country.

"Access to advanced science and technology should not vary depending on region or circumstances," said Lee Eun-young, director of the National Science Museum. "Through the high-tech expedition, we will go directly to places that need science and technology and give children we can invite to the museum the chance to experience a range of advanced technologies."

Lee said the program would not stop at a single hands-on session. "We will connect online content with on-site experiences so that children can keep meeting science in their daily lives," she said.

After the hands-on sessions, the museum plans to point participants toward online science content, including science learning materials and a metaverse science museum, so that access to science culture is not limited by time or place.