The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said on the 9th that Minister Kim Yun-duk attended the "2026 Consumer Electronics Show (CES)" held in Las Vegas from the 6th to the 7th (local time).
CES is the world's largest ICT exhibition, held every January since 1967 by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). More than 4,500 corporations from over 160 countries participate, and more than 140,000 people visit. Recently, the exhibition has expanded beyond consumer electronics to AI, mobility, Robotics, smart home, and digital health.
On the afternoon of the 6th, the Minister visited the K-startup integrated pavilion and the integrated Korea pavilion (KOTRA) located in "Tech West (Venetian Campus)," where startups and innovative corporations are concentrated, to review the technological prowess of Korea's small and midsize corporations and startups. In particular, the Minister directly checked technology achievements applicable to the land and transport sector, including Autonomous Driving, AI-based safety inspections, and Digital Twin.
On the morning of the 7th, the Minister visited "Tech East (Las Vegas Convention Center·LVCC)," where major global corporations were exhibiting, to review core technologies of overseas corporations such as Amazon and Qualcomm and domestic corporations such as Hyundai Motor and Samsung Electronics. The Minister then asked corporations with world-leading technologies to cooperate to strengthen the competitiveness of the land and transport industry.
That afternoon, the Minister held a meeting of CES-participating corporations with small and midsize enterprises and startups, encouraged Korean businesspeople who won CES Innovation Awards, and discussed support measures for corporations to enter overseas markets and develop technology.
At the meeting, the Minister said, "I agree with the view that small-scale research and development (R&D) programs are needed for small and startup firms in the land and transport field," and emphasized, "Since large R&D projects currently account for a high proportion, making it difficult for small and startup firms to participate, we will newly prepare R&D programs that can provide practical support to them, and we will review ways to ensure that on-site opinions from corporations are actively reflected in the process of planning and designing those programs."
On the 8th, the Minister visited San Francisco to hold a meeting with Korean students studying abroad who are staying there, shared the status of international joint research in the land and transport field, discussed support measures for overseas researchers and students, and listened to the difficulties local students face.
That afternoon, the Minister visited Waymo, a leading Autonomous Driving corporation, received a briefing on the corporation's status and service operations, and test-rode a fully driverless robotaxi operating in an actual urban area to directly check the level of full Autonomous Driving technology and the safety management system.
Afterward, on the 9th, the Minister will visit San Francisco International Airport to inspect the "Engineered Materials Arresting System (EMAS)" installed at the runway end and share the technology status with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and San Francisco International Airport (SFO).
The Minister said, "Based on the next-generation technology trends reviewed during this CES 2026 visit, we will look into ways for the land and transport industry to effectively respond to technological change, and we will also promote a support program for early-career researchers to attract outstanding overseas talent," adding, "We will actively reflect the experience of on-site visits to Autonomous Driving corporations in improving systems for operating domestic Autonomous Driving pilot cities and for commercializing Autonomous Driving."