The presidential National AI Strategy Committee said its standing vice chair, Ha Jung-woo (하정우), visited Daegu on Tuesday to inspect artificial intelligence transformation (AX) sites in manufacturing, robotics and mobility.

The visit followed the government's decision to foster Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province as a hub for advanced materials and parts and AI robots. It came after a field trip to Gangwon Province on Oct. 19 and 20.

Ha attended the opening ceremony of the 2026 Future Innovation Technology Expo (FIX 2026) held at Daegu EXCO. The event runs through Oct. 24, with 510 companies from South Korea and abroad taking part and showcasing the latest technologies such as future mobility, robotics and AI across 2,100 booths.

He then visited the AI-based Process Innovation Simulation Center in the Seongseo Industrial Complex in Dalseo district. The center supports small and midsize companies with product development and performance verification using high-performance computing (HPC) and graphics processing unit (GPU) servers, and about 180 companies have used it over the past 3 years.

At an L&F Plus plant in Dalseong County, he reviewed manufacturing AX technology applied to the production process for secondary battery cathode active materials.

"The mobility, robotics and secondary battery sites we toured today are all closely connected to growth engines in the Daegu-Gyeongbuk region," Ha said. "I will closely review what I heard on site today, from small companies to leading firms."

Ha is set to move to Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, on Wednesday to visit the Gyeongbuk AX Lab, the Safety Robot Demonstration Center, POSTECH and the construction site of the Pohang Neo AI Data Center, among others.