More South Korean games won approvals from the Chinese government in the first half of this year, lifting expectations they will contribute to earnings. China granted foreign game licences to seven Korea-linked titles from January to June, according to the National Press and Publication Administration. Companies are increasingly working with local partners such as Tencent rather than running services directly. Some recently launched Korean games have posted early results in China, though sustained performance will depend on live operations.

South Korea is launching a project to develop domestic core technologies for physical artificial intelligence, including high-performance world models and homegrown simulators. The Ministry of Science and ICT and IITP held a kickoff briefing in Seoul on June 9. The programme will link world models, robot foundation models and simulator technology into a single demonstration system. The ministry will invest 34 billion won over two years and targets a 20 percentage-point improvement in robots’ final task success rates.