Korea Enters the Humanoid Race
KIST, LG, and LG AI Research are launching KAPEX in November to challenge US-China dominance
Korea just declared it's done watching from the sidelines. The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), LG Electronics, and LG AI Research are unveiling KAPEX, a next-generation humanoid robot, in November 2025.
The timing matters. China has 20+ humanoid robot makers. The US has 5 established players led by Tesla and Figure AI. Korea has been conspicuously absent from a market projected to hit $38 billion by 2035.
KAPEX combines KIST's AI humanoid technology with LG Electronics' mass-production capabilities and LG AI Research's EXAONE Vision Language model. The name itself signals intent: KAPEX represents both reaching the apex of robotics evolution and exploring unknown possibilities.
The early specs show serious ambition... Human-level physical strength, hands with tactile sensing as delicate as human touch. Reinforcement learning combined with vision-language models for adaptive AI. High-output full-body actuators developed entirely in-house.
Traditional humanoids mimic human movements. KAPEX learns independently, adapts to changing environments, performs precise manipulation, and collaborates with humans. Lee Jong-won, director general of KIST's Humanoid Research Division, called it "a practical alternative and a new global standard as a Korean AI robot that challenges the U.S.-China-centered market order."
The strategy leverages Korea's existing advantages. LG already manufactures displays, batteries, chips, and AI models. Samsung SDI produces batteries. Korean companies lead in precision components. KAPEX integrates an existing supply chain into a full-stack humanoid platform.
Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy allocated approximately $150 million in 2025 for humanoid R&D, infrastructure, and testing. Specialized semiconductors from companies like Rebellions and DEEPX. High-density batteries from SK On, LG Energy Solution, and Samsung SDI. Shared testing infrastructure accessible to all robot manufacturers.
The goal is clear: field operations and commercialization within four years. Target markets include households, logistics, manufacturing, and healthcare. Korea wants leadership in physical AI, not just participation.
Design lesson: Late market entry works when you control the supply chain. Korea doesn't need to invent humanoid robotics from scratch. It needs to integrate components it already manufactures better than anyone else. LG makes screens for Apple and batteries for EVs. Now it's building the robot those components enable.
Compare this to Tesla (leveraging automotive manufacturing) or Figure AI (raising billions but sourcing components globally). Korea is betting that vertical integration from chips to actuators to AI models creates competitive advantage even when entering late.
Next time: Why Meta is paying hundreds of millions to poach Tesla's robotics team
Forward this to someone building robotics products or managing autonomy teams.