Key Individuals in South Korea's K-Humanoid Alliance

1. Government Leadership: Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE)

Ahn Duk-geun

Role: Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy

Affiliation: Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE)

Contributions: Minister Ahn Duk-geun is the principal architect and public face of the K-Humanoid Alliance. As chair of the alliance’s launch and ongoing steering committee, he has been instrumental in securing over KRW 1 trillion in government and private investment commitments through 2030 and ensuring coordinated policy support across ministries²³. Minister Ahn’s vision extends beyond technical innovation, framing humanoid robotics as an existential imperative for global economic competitiveness and workforce sustainability. He is responsible for legislative engagement (including National Assembly negotiations to augment annual robotics R&D budgets) and prioritizes multi-party collaboration, symposiums, and workforce development, such as internship and education programs for young robotics researchers³. His continued advocacy guarantees government funding, legal framework advancement, and strategic alignment across the alliance spectrum.

2. Academic Leadership

Yoo Hong-lim

Role: President

Affiliation: Seoul National University (SNU)

Contributions: As SNU President, Yoo Hong-lim plays a dual role of academic champion and governance advisor, facilitating SNU’s participation in the alliance and ensuring that Korea’s premier academic institution remains central to talent development and cross-sector innovation. He is deeply involved in industry-academic cooperation, steering the integration of research output into commercial and manufacturing domains, and fostering the next generation of AI/robotics leaders¹.

Jang Byung-tak

Role: Director, Institute of Artificial Intelligence

Affiliation: SNU

Contributions: Professor Jang Byung-tak is the official head of the Robot AI Foundation Model Team, leading a consortium of 15 elite experts from multiple universities to deliver the alliance’s “brain” for humanoid robots by 2028⁴. His stewardship ensures that the ambitious AI model—capable of multimodal perception, natural language interaction, and physical-world reasoning—remains on track and adapts to the unique demands of Korea’s manufacturing landscape. He also coordinates the sharing of robot hardware and proprietary datasets from participating companies, cementing industry-academic data fusion. Jang directly interfaces with government and industry groups to ensure the foundational AI model is deployable across varied hardware platforms.

Kwang Hyung Lee

Role: President

Affiliation: KAIST

Contributions: President Kwang Hyung Lee leverages his leadership at KAIST to consolidate advanced robotics and “Physical AI” strategies. His public advocacy and capability-building at policy forums strongly influence national roadmaps, particularly stressing Korea’s comparative advantage in AI semiconductors and smart manufacturing⁵. Under his guidance, KAIST has committed core faculty and facilities to foundation model R&D and hardware innovation.

Han Jae-kwon

Role: Professor (Hanyang Univ. ERICA); CTO (Airobot)

Affiliation: Hanyang University ERICA Campus / Airobot

Contributions: Professor Han leads the alliance’s “robot manufacturing/hardware” arm. As both an eminent academic and CTO of robotics SME Airobot, he occupies the critical intersection of research and commercialization¹. Under his supervision, the hardware group works to produce highly agile, lightweight, and capable humanoids—coordinating with leading component firms for sensors, actuators, and full system integration. Han’s dual perspective as researcher and industry practitioner ensures that the project’s specs (e.g., 60kg weight, 50+ degrees of freedom) are feasible, manufacturable, and scalable for real-world industrial adoption.

Other Notable Academic Contributors

KAIST Leadership:

Hoi-Jun Yoo (Dean, Graduate School of AI Semiconductor, KAIST): Leads the development and application of ultra-low-power AI semiconductors, a strategic asset for physical AI and robotics, including their integration into humanoid platforms⁵.

Jung Kim (Professor, KAIST Dept. of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering): Expert in mechatronics, actuator technology, and biomechanics, critical for bipedal locomotion and high-dexterity robot design⁵.

Korea University:

Sungjoon Choi (Assistant Professor, Dept. of Artificial Intelligence): Specializes in human-robot interaction, multimodal learning, and foundation models for robotics. His recent papers (2025, 2026) on text-to-humanoid motion generation and robot intelligence inform cross-lab efforts on advanced robot behavior⁶.

3. Industry and Manufacturing Leadership

Jun-Ho Oh

Role: Director, Future Robotics Office (Samsung Electronics); Advisor; Former KAIST Professor

Affiliation: Samsung Electronics - Rainbow Robotics; Formerly KAIST

Contributions: A legendary pioneer in Korean robotics, Dr. Jun-Ho Oh is best known for developing the DARPA Challenge-winning humanoid Hubo and founding Rainbow Robotics. Post-acquisition by Samsung Electronics in 2024-2025, Dr. Oh was appointed to lead Samsung’s Future Robotics Office and serves as senior technical advisor for alliance hardware strategy⁷⁵. His deep experience ensures seamless industry-academic knowledge transfer and underpins Samsung’s push to blend advanced AI, software, and mechanical design in next-generation humanoids.

Kevin Kim

Role: CEO

Affiliation: Doosan Robotics

Contributions: Doosan Robotics CEO Kevin Kim has overseen an internal strategic transformation to focus on AI-driven humanoid development. He is deploying Doosan’s capital, internal AI/software R&D, and collaborative projects within the alliance to advance “practical humanoids” and drive rapid innovation. Kim’s execution-focused leadership expands beyond collaborative robots into humanoid systems and includes spearheading Blitzscaling and talent acquisition efforts⁸.

Heo Jung-woo

Role: CTO and Head, Research Institute

Affiliation: Rainbow Robotics

Contributions: Heo Jung-woo directs Rainbow Robotics’ technical trajectory, providing expertise in complex actuator and sensor integration, modular robot platforms, and collaborative product development. Under his leadership, Rainbow has committed to providing hardware platforms for field trials with logistics partner CJ Logistics, as well as integrating hardware and AI solutions for sector-wide adoption⁹¹⁰.

Kim Jeong-hee

Role: Chief Technology Officer, TES Innovation Center

Affiliation: CJ Logistics

Contributions: As CTO of CJ Logistics’ TES Innovation Center, Kim Jeong-hee spearheads the integration of “Agentic AI” into humanoid logistics robots. Kim coordinates with Rainbow Robotics to develop, trial, and deploy AI-driven humanoid systems optimized for complex, high-velocity logistics environments. Her work is pivotal in demonstrating large-scale commercial use and the real-world value of alliance technologies⁹.

Lee Sam-soo and Kim Byung-hoon

Roles: Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Technology Officer, respectively

Affiliation: LG Electronics

Contributions: Lee Sam-soo formulates LG Electronics’ robotic venture strategies, managing partnerships and new investments to expand the company’s leadership in humanoid and consumer robotics. Kim Byung-hoon oversees the R&D wing, focusing on digital twin and AI model integration, crucial for enabling robots to learn from real-world and simulated data for rapid prototyping and deployment¹¹. Their collaborative stewardship puts LG Electronics at the vanguard of both mass-market and industrial humanoid applications.

Hyun Shin-Gyoon and Jun-ho Lee

Roles: CEO and Senior VP (Smart Logistics/City Business Div.), respectively

Affiliation: LG CNS

Contributions: Hyun Shin-Gyoon has directed LG CNS’s entry into industrial humanoid AI solutions, forming international partnerships (e.g., with Skild AI) to accelerate robot foundation model development and system integration. Jun-ho Lee ensures these solutions are tailored to manufacturing, logistics, and urban service application, managing joint development with robotics hardware manufacturers¹².

4. Additional Institutional and Technical Leadership

Other Key Figures and Contributors

Samsung Leadership: Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Han Jong-hee, leveraging the acquisition of Rainbow Robotics for alignment between device ecosystems and humanoid platforms⁷.

POSTECH, Yonsei University: While the leadership is less publicly specified, prominent faculty groups from both universities contribute to alliance foundation model R&D and cross-lab integration.

Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH): Participates in both AI research and robot hardware development, often collaborating with KAIST and SNU counterparts.

Component Companies: Heads of SK On, LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI, Rebellions, and DEEPX are deeply involved in providing next-gen batteries and AI hardware, overseen by R&D leads and CTOs who interface with both the alliance and government budget/planning offices.

The Role of the Robot AI Foundation Model Team

At the core of the K-Humanoid initiative lies the “robot AI foundation model”—an ambitious AI system meant to enable high-level, flexible cognition in humanoid robots. The foundation model team, under Professor Jang Byung-tak's coordination, includes experts from SNU, KAIST (notably Prof. Hoi-Jun Yoo, Prof. Jung Kim), Korea University (Prof. Sungjoon Choi), Yonsei, and POSTECH. This team covers:

• Multimodal Reasoning: Integrating computer vision, language, sensor data, and reinforcement learning for real-world adaptability.
• Hardware-Software Co-design: Ensuring the model works across diverse actuators, hands, locomotion systems, and sensors provided by hardware partners.
• Data Fusion: Utilizing shared datasets from industrial partners for rapid model improvement and transfer learning⁴.

Their best practices echo recent advances in physical AI and robotics foundation models (e.g., Covariant’s RFM-1) but are grounded in data shared by Korea’s unique manufacturing industries¹³.

Alliance Governance and Coordination Mechanisms

Alliance governance is maintained via a central “steering committee” composed of group leaders from each participating sector. This body is responsible for:

• Project milestone setting, including timelines for the 2028 AI model and hardware launches,
• Resource and data sharing protocols,
• Escalation and mediation across working groups,
• Interface with MOTIE for funding and policy review,
• Intellectual property and standardization oversight.

Subcommittees are configured for:

• AI and Foundation Model Development (led by Prof. Jang Byung-tak)
• Robot Hardware and System Integration (led by Prof. Han Jae-kwon, with input from Rainbow, Doosan, etc.)
• Industry Liaison and Deployment (led by corporate CTOs and integration experts)
• Education and Workforce Development (university presidents and industry training officers)³.

Interplay of Academic and Industrial Approaches

The K-Humanoid Alliance exemplifies a uniquely Korean form of public-private-academic integration, going beyond standard consortia models found elsewhere. The repeated movement of key figures across sectors—e.g., Dr. Jun-Ho Oh’s transition from KAIST professor to Samsung advisor, Prof. Han Jae-kwon’s dual role as Hanyang professor and Airobot CTO—ensures both strategic vision and practical know-how are present at all levels.

This approach dramatically accelerates the transition from laboratory models to scalable, real-world deployments:

• University groups supply the bleeding edge of AI and control theory.
• Corporate teams “industrialize” those results, leveraging manufacturing scale, component access, and user feedback.
• Government secures patient capital, coordinates policy and export certification, and enables standards compliance for worldwide rollout.

Integration of Logistics, AI, and Real-World Testing

CJ Logistics, under CTO Kim Jeong-hee, and Rainbow Robotics, under Heo Jung-woo, have established a testbed where humanoid robots equipped with the alliance’s foundation AI are trialed in high-throughput warehouses. These settings push beyond routine automation. The robots are tested for capacity to adapt, judge, and act autonomously—transforming logistics workplaces previously reliant on fixed-automation or manual processes.

Rainbow provides hardware ranging from collaborative robots to full humanoids (Hubo derivatives), while CJ’s Agentic AI software enables sophisticated scheduling, error recovery, and multimodal perception. Early field trials are slated for late 2025, making this pairing a model for nationwide deployment and feedback loops for AI refinement⁹.

Industrial and Corporate Innovation Engines

Doosan Robotics

Under CEO Kevin Kim, Doosan’s focus has shifted from collaborative robot arms to complex humanoid forms, supported by new R&D centers and intensified recruitment in AI and robotics control. The aim is for Doosan to develop “practical humanoids” leveraging advanced multi-arm simultaneous control, real-time collision avoidance, and long-horizon planning—capabilities essential not only for factories but also for dynamic social environments⁸.

LG Group (LG Electronics and LG CNS)

LG Electronics’ multi-pronged leadership—encompassing CEO Jo Joo-wan, CSO Lee Sam-soo, CTO Kim Byung-hoon, and the AI subsidiary LG CNS—focuses on home and industrial humanoid solutions. LG CNS’s strategic partnership with Skild AI signals deep investment in robot foundation models, mirroring international best practices and allowing for rapid upskilling in areas like logistics, city infrastructure, and eldercare robots¹². The ability of LG to gather AI, hardware, and software engineering in both mass consumer and industrial settings is unique among global conglomerates and underpins Korea’s bet on the humanoid future.

Samsung and Rainbow Robotics

The consolidation of Rainbow Robotics as a Samsung Electronics subsidiary, with Dr. Jun-Ho Oh as advisor, brings together deep mechanical and AI system integration. This “synergy council” directs product design, business strategy, and market validation for Korea’s first generation of export-focused humanoids, aiming for parity or leadership relative to global counterparts like Tesla or Figure AI⁷.

Detailed Academic Participation

Seoul National University (SNU)

With President Yoo Hong-lim and Professor Jang Byung-tak leading efforts, SNU’s role is foundational, from AI model development to executive training programs. SNU’s Institute of Artificial Intelligence drives cutting-edge research at the intersection of computer science, robotics, and cognitive sciences¹.

KAIST

Under President Lee’s vision, KAIST advances “Physical AI,” placing emphasis on ultra-low-power, lightweight semiconductors (Prof. Hoi-Jun Yoo) and robust biomechanical systems (Prof. Jung Kim). Its close linkages to industry (many founders and senior staff of Rainbow, Angel Robotics, and other alliance members were originally KAIST faculty or alumni) ensure tight coupling between theoretical breakthroughs and practical deployments⁵.

Yonsei University

Yonsei’s robotics and AI teams are embedded cross-institutionally within the foundation model group and are active in multimodal AI research, contributing to advancements in language, vision, and sensor fusion for humanoids.

Korea University

Prof. Sungjoon Choi’s Robot Intelligence Lab exemplifies Korea University’s commitment to cutting-edge research—from text-to-humanoid motion generation to shared autonomy theories relevant for the alliance’s practical deployments⁶.

POSTECH and Hanyang University

Each plays a complementary role: Hanyang (Prof. Han’s group) drives hardware advances, actuator design, and robot-human safety controls; POSTECH bolsters the alliance with research on manipulation, computer vision, and energy-efficient components.

Alliance Governance and Cross-Collaboration in Practice

The alliance’s structure is highly dynamic, with steering and technical subcommittees led by the individuals profiled above, ensuring that decisions are data-driven and responsive to fast-changing technical landscapes:

• Steering Committee: Includes Minister Ahn, university presidents, and industry CEOs. Sets high-level priorities, steers public communication, and adjusts strategy as needed to global developments.
• AI Model Committee: Led by Prof. Jang (SNU) with vice-chairs from KAIST, Yonsei, and Korea University. Handles cross-institutional collaboration on neural network architectures, simulation environments, and transfer learning.
• Hardware Committee: Led by Prof. Han (Hanyang, Airobot), supported by leads from Samsung/Rainbow, Doosan, and HD Hyundai Robotics, with dedicated task forces for actuators, sensors, and system integration.
• Deployment and Testbed Committee: Managed by logistics and end-user representatives, including CTO Kim (CJ Logistics), with field trial data flowing quickly back into the research cycle.

Regular “technology showcases, seminars, and competitions” are held under MOTIE’s sponsorship, allowing rapid cross-pollination and course correction based on emerging results and user feedback².