Korean Air (003490) held the "2026 Korean Air Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Technology Exchange Forum" at Hotel Nongshim in Busan's Dongnae District on the 3rd. The event brought together industry, academia, research institutes, government and the military to explore development paths for core technologies including the localization of physical artificial intelligence and next-generation drone platforms.
Now in its third year, the forum runs for two days under the theme "The Future Battlefield Opened by Physical AI." About 300 participants attended the opening ceremony, including Lim Jin-kyu, head of Korean Air's Aerospace Business Division, Kim Deuk-bong, commander of the Drone Operations Command, Jung Jae-kwon, president of the Korean Society for Aeronautical and Space Sciences Systems, and Lee Man-hee, head of the Army Air Defense School, along with representatives from academia, overseas drone manufacturers and domestic partner companies.
The main program following the opening ceremony featured speeches and lectures on topics such as "Physical AI Development Strategies for the AI Transformation of Korean Drones" and "Counter-Drone Systems and Key Technology Trends."
Korean Air gave a presentation titled "Physical AI and Next-Generation Platforms," sharing its technological capabilities in a high-speed multipurpose drone and an AI pilot currently under development. The company also displayed an actual physical AI drone airframe and screened a demonstration video.
Anduril of the U.S., which is working with Korean Air, introduced its next-generation autonomous defense platform, and the Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology presented its research and development policy for export-oriented defense physical AI.
On the 4th, drone specialists and related agencies including Pablo Air and Doosan Enerbility will present progress on core technologies such as the modularization and family standardization of defense unmanned systems (K-MOSA), swarm autonomy and AI-based aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul.
"This forum is a place where industry, academia, research institutes, government and the military think together about how to apply physical AI technology to drone platforms in rapidly changing battlefields and industrial sites, and build a practical foundation," a Korean Air official said. "We will continue to contribute to building a Korean drone ecosystem and strengthening advanced unmanned capabilities based on active exchanges with related sectors."
