"The Starting Point for the Physical AI Transition"...2026 World IT Show Concludes

by Lee Eunseo

Published 26 Apr.2026 12:00(KST)

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on April 26 that the 2026 World IT Show, held at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul from April 22 to 24, had successfully concluded.

Yonhap News Agency

This year’s event attracted 460 companies from 17 countries, and the number of visitors reached 68,493, an increase of more than 20,000 compared to the previous year.

With the theme “Beyond Thinking to Action: AI Moves the Real World,” this year’s show highlighted physical AI technologies that combine robotics, autonomous manufacturing, and other physical implementations with artificial intelligence.

Major domestic companies, including SK Telecom, KT, LG Uplus, Samsung Electronics, and LG Electronics, participated in the exhibition. Newly featured showcases included the “K-AI Semiconductor Ecosystem Pavilion” and exhibits by companies engaged in physical AI.

At the “K-Physical AI Roundtable,” government and private sector representatives discussed strategies for establishing an independent full-stack ecosystem for physical AI. There was a consensus on the need for Korea, as a leading manufacturing nation, to turn behavioral data into valuable resources and to build an industrial ecosystem that combines proprietary AI models and hardware.

During the “AI·ICT Insight Forum,” experts in industry, technology, and policy shared directions for Korea’s AI industry and technology with a focus on strategies for becoming a top-three global AI powerhouse, including humanoid robots, HBM, personal data protection, and AI semiconductors for physical AI applications.

The business program to support overseas expansion and attract investment for domestic ICT companies also delivered tangible results. At the “Global Buyer Export Consultation Meeting,” a total of 850 meetings took place between domestic companies and buyers from 14 countries, including the United Kingdom, India, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The total export consultation amount increased by 8.7% year-on-year, reaching USD 250 million.

Lee Dokyu, policy chief at the Ministry of Science and ICT, stated, “This event marked the starting point for the ‘physical AI transition,’ where AI expands into physical industrial fields. Building on this year’s achievements, we will continue to develop this platform as a leading driver of Korea’s national AI transformation and the global growth of promising full-stack AI companies.”