South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT said on Jan. 27 it will accept applications until next month’s Feb. 25 for the "2026 radio wave industry SME commercialisation support programme" to promote market entry for radio-wave utilisation technologies that underpin physical AI such as robots and autonomous vehicles.

The project supports product-making costs to speed market entry by linking R&D成果 in a range of radio-wave utilisation fields, including information and communications, energy and manufacturing, and logistics and transport, to commercialisation. The total budget this year is 420 million won, and it supports up to 60 million won per company for product-making costs.

This year, in particular, to respond to the spread of physical AI technologies drawing global attention, it newly designates radio-based AI convergence areas such as intelligent robots and smart mobility to support innovative companies’ market establishment. It also provides tailored technical support to improve product performance, including technology, design, testing and performance evaluation, along with support for product-making so that South Korean SMEs’ creative ideas and innovative technologies can be successfully launched to the market.

Details and applications are available through the websites of MSIT or the Korea Radio Promotion Association. MSIT will make final selections of supported companies through a first-stage document review and a second-stage presentation review.

Lee Hyun-ho (이현호), director general for Radio Policy at MSIT, said, "The physical AI industry is in a situation where innovation is accelerating, centred on manufacturing." He added, "We will actively provide support so that securing commercialisation capabilities by domestic SMEs can lead to tangible outcomes in the field."