Chinese Humanoid Robots Demonstrated at South Korea National Assembly

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South Korea faces a growing lag in physical artificial intelligence and robotics as Chinese humanoid technology rapidly expands into domestic research institutions and science centers, according to reports from sources. On Oct. 6, 2026, during a parliamentary audit by the Science, Technology, Information, Broadcasting, and Communications Committee at the National Assembly, lawmakers witnessed demonstrations of Chinese humanoid robots walking, shaking hands, and performing martial arts.

Chinese Humanoid Robots Demonstrated at the National Assembly

During the Oct. 6 parliamentary session, Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Lee Jeong-heon introduced humanoid robots built by Chinese tech firms Unitree and Agibot. According to mk.co.kr, the robots walked into the committee room, greeted officials, and performed martial arts forms and dance routines to music, drawing laughter and applause from assembled lawmakers who recorded the display on their phones.

Lawmaker Lee attempted a conversation with the machines in Korean, noting that despite their Chinese origin, the robots understood and responded to the language. The demonstration concluded when Science and Technology Broadcasting Committee Chairman Song Gi-heon asked for the machines to be removed from the room, as detailed by mk.co.kr.

China Leads South Korea in Humanoid Robot Production

To illustrate the widening gap between the two nations, lawmaker Lee presented factory footage recorded in Beijing, describing assembly lines where robots hang from overhead conveyor belts for step-by-step mass production rather than the small-scale assembly typical of South Korean universities and research labs, m.news.nate.com reported.

Data cited during the audit show that China houses approximately 160 finished humanoid enterprises and around 600 core component suppliers, backed by an annual robotics industry investment scale of 3 billion yuan, equivalent to roughly 6.4 trillion won. In contrast, out of 2,814 domestic artificial intelligence firms in South Korea, only 53 focus on hardware research and development for humanoids, according to mk.co.kr.

Patent Disparities and Public Sector Reliance on Foreign Hardware

Global humanoid production reached 13,318 units last year, marking a 480% increase from the prior year. Patent data from the first half of the year across five major economies reveal a sharp divergence, with China holding a 60.8% share of humanoid patents compared to South Korea’s 4.6%, according to m.news.nate.com.

Patents for robot foundation models—the core software brains of humanoids—show a similar gap, with China controlling 66.3% and South Korea holding 8.8%.

South Korea Plans to Expand Physical AI Funding

Addressing the findings during the audit, Minister of Science and ICT and Deputy Prime Minister Bae Gyung-hoon acknowledged that investments from government ministries and related agencies have fallen short. Bae committed to expanding funding for physical artificial intelligence markets in cooperation with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

Bae said the government is preparing to designate physical AI as a core future strategic sector for South Korea and build a robotics ecosystem that can be utilized directly in industrial settings, while securing core competitiveness in robot foundation models, data, and software without any setbacks.