South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT said on Thursday it held a meeting at CES 2026 in Las Vegas, chaired by Second Vice Minister Ryu Je-myung, to hear opinions from major domestic AI companies.
Companies including Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, Hyundai Motor, Doosan and Samsung SDS, which attended CES 2026, took part. Each company shared ICT industry trends and response strategies it sensed through CES. They also exchanged views on ways for public-private cooperation to strengthen South Korea's global AI leadership and on government support needed to accelerate AI transformation across industries.
They held in-depth discussions on 'physical AI', a key word at this year's CES. Participants agreed on the need for close cooperation between the government and companies to bring together South Korea's solid manufacturing base and applied R&D capabilities.
Ryu said, "As the scope of AI use expands across the board from consumers' daily lives to industrial sites, we are on the verge of the era of physical AI." He said, "As it represents a major market opportunity for us, given our solid manufacturing base, I will support efforts to step up as a leading country in physical AI based on public-private cooperation."
Jin-ho Lee
jhlee26@d-today.co.kr