On the 21st of this month, at "Tokyo Midtown Yaesu," a landmark high-rise complex in Tokyo, cameras poured attention on the movements of delivery robots traveling through the building as a large crowd of Japanese reporters gathered. Real estate and telecommunications giants representing Japan, including Mitsui Fudosan and NTT, adopted Naver's smart building operation technology solutions as core infrastructure for downtown Tokyo and staged an on-site demonstration. Japanese reporters expressed astonishment at Naver's artificial intelligence (AI) multi-robot control system and its advanced digital twin technology.
This fervor of coverage contrasts sharply with the memory of the "LINE affair," which sent a chill through the Korea-Japan tech industry just two years ago. Triggered by administrative guidance from Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications in 2024, the LINE affair was an incident in which pressure to sell shares and controversy over security risks erupted over a platform built by a Korean information technology (IT) company. It was a geoeconomic snapshot showing just how sharply inter-state checks and struggles for dominance operate as the influence of technology and platforms grows.
But before that chilling shadow had even lifted, another stage for a reversal opened in the heart of Tokyo. "Physical AI," which has expanded beyond the virtual into real space, began knocking on the door of the Japanese market once again. And it comes as an irony that the protagonist at the center of this reversal is Naver, the very company that endured a harsh ordeal during the LINE affair.
Even amid external pressure over data security, the demands of the industrial field were clear. It was the practical judgment of Japanese companies seeking to quickly transplant proven AI solutions in the increasingly advanced fields of spatial intelligence and robot control that came into play. This is why a flexible combination was formed, placing Korea's AI "brain" atop world-class hardware and spatial assets.
This case carries no small implications for Korea's AI industry as well. If the performance of large language models (LLMs) determined competitiveness in the generative AI era, then in the physical AI era, operational technology and data capable of moving actual industries, cities, and factories become the new competitive edge. Ultimately, the next contest for AI supremacy hinges on how deeply the real world can be connected and how stably it can be operated.
Of course, optimism must be avoided. As the LINE affair proved, unless irreplaceable and unrivaled technological prowess is secured, dominance in overseas markets can be shaken again at any time by political and institutional risks. The precedent of Japan, which rested on the glory of its electronics industry and missed the golden time of the AI era, paradoxically gives us a chilling sense of vigilance as well.
The Korean AI "brain" that captivated Tokyo is not something to be left as mere pride. The essence of future competition lies in whether the technological leadership secured by overcoming the scars of the LINE affair can be carried forward into a competitiveness that cannot be replaced. What Korean tech companies, which have returned to the Japanese market armed with AI and robots, need is continuous reflection and execution to coolly sustain their technological edge.
