ULSAN < invest Korea

According to Yonhap News,

(Jeonnam-Gwangju/Ulsan=Yonhap News) Reporters Kim Keun-joo and Park Chul-hong = Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City and Ulsan Metropolitan City, South Korea's representative automotive production hubs, are jointly launching an initiative to introduce Artificial Intelligence (AI) and humanoid robotics into automotive manufacturing processes.

Jeonnam-Gwangju and Ulsan held the inaugural meeting of the 'Manufacturing AI Transformation (M.AX) Cooperation Council for the Automotive Industry' in Ulsan on the 7th to discuss project execution strategies.

To address the decline in the working-age population and labor shortages in high-risk, high-difficulty production lines, both cities plan to establish human-robot collaborative automotive manufacturing environments where humanoid robots work alongside human operators.

The project carries a total budget of KRW 58 billion (USD 43.61 million)—with KRW 29 billion (USD 21.80 million) allocated to each city. Each municipality's funding structure comprises KRW 15 billion (USD 11.28 million) in national budget support and KRW 14 billion (USD 10.53 million) in local government funds, executed over a five-year period from 2027 through 2031.

For the upcoming fiscal year's national budget proposal, a combined KRW 9 billion (USD 6.77 million)—KRW 4.5 billion per city—has been reflected.

Key strategic initiatives are establishing a humanoid verification center specialized for automotive general assembly processes, building and testing training and deployment platforms for manufacturing-oriented humanoid robots, constructing infrastructure to verify the durability and operational reliability of humanoid systems, and supporting regional automotive component suppliers and manufacturers in adopting AI technologies.

During the council meeting, attendees shared industry trends on humanoid deployment by global automakers, including Hyundai Motor and Tesla, while discussing regional testbed facilities and inter-city collaboration strategies. Following the meeting, officials toured Hyundai Motor's Electric Vehicle (EV) dedicated plant in Ulsan.

An official from Ulsan City stated, "We will thoroughly share the project direction and practical industrial needs to concrete joint programs aligned with central government policies and corporate demands."

Lee Dong-hyun, Head of the Future Car Industry Division at Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City, remarked, "We must proactively respond to the accelerating trend of introducing humanoids into automotive manufacturing," adding, "We will work closely with Ulsan to ensure the related funding reflected in the government budget proposal is finalized in the National Assembly."

canto@yna.co.kr



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Source Text

Source: Yonhap News (September 07, 2026)

** This article was translated from Korean.