{"id":691737,"date":"2026-05-25T02:01:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T02:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/691737\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T02:01:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T02:01:10","slug":"k-pop-androids-and-automated-artists-welcome-to-south-koreas-strange-and-ambitious-robot-theme-park-south-korea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/691737\/","title":{"rendered":"K-pop androids and automated artists: welcome to South Korea\u2019s strange and ambitious robot theme park | South Korea"},"content":{"rendered":"

Four child-sized humanoid robots take the stage at an arena in eastern Seoul, and as the opening beats of a song by K-pop<\/a> star G-Dragon begin, they start to dance.<\/p>\n

Arms swinging, legs stepping in sync, heads bobbing, wigs and baggy clothes swishing, until \u2013 mid-performance \u2013 one of them seemingly malfunctions and has to be removed from the stage.<\/p>\n

Welcome to Galaxy Robot Park, a new 16,500 square metre facility in Gangdong district that its creators claim is the world\u2019s first robot theme park.<\/p>\n

Galaxy\u2019s chief executive Choi Yong-ho at Galaxy Robot Park.
Photograph: Galaxy Entertainment<\/p>\n

It represents an ambitious \u2013 some might say audacious \u2013 vision of a future in which robots don\u2019t just assist humans but entertain them, perform concerts across continents simultaneously, and even walk runways.<\/p>\n

Behind the project is Galaxy Corporation, an entertainment company that positions itself as an \u201center-tech\u201d firm, blending entertainment with technology.<\/p>\n

It manages megastar G-Dragon, as well as Taemin from the group Shinee and actor Song Kang-ho, known to western audiences for his role as the father in Parasite<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"RobotsRobots performing at Galaxy Robot Park, South Korea. Credit: Raphael Rashid<\/p>\n

K-pop has long served as a testing ground for experimental tech, from SM Entertainment\u2019s Aespa, which pairs real members with virtual avatars, to fully virtual boybands like Plave.<\/p>\n

At the opening show, the robots execute their moves with surprising fluidity across a repertoire of different songs, including G-Dragon\u2019s Home Sweet Home and Taemin\u2019s Advice and Idea.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re planning three to six K-pop concerts daily, over 1,000 shows annually,\u201d Choi Yong-ho, Galaxy\u2019s chief executive and self-styled \u201cchief happiness officer\u201d, tells reporters. \u201cBy the end of this year, We\u2019re planning to take them on a world tour.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robots dance at a K-pop concert. Photograph: Galaxy Entertainment<\/p>\n

Cha Woo-jin, a music critic and industry analyst, is wary of whether audiences will embrace the shows around the world, but sees the ambitious plan as both a cultural and economic experiment. \u201cIf you put a robot in an Elvis museum, fans would be repulsed,\u201d he says. \u201cBut K-pop is a visual packaging model, so robots feel less alien.\u201d<\/p>\n

A robot tour, he says, would be like a cover dance crew \u2013 the groups that replicate routines of famous K-pop performers \u2013 but without hotel bills or per diems.<\/p>\n

\"RobotsRobots boxing at Galaxy Robot Park, South Korea. Credit: Raphael Rashid<\/p>\n

Beyond the arena, the park offers various robot experiences. Robot valets welcomed guests at the door. Others, including robotic dogs, roam around the outdoor areas playing with visitors.<\/p>\n

A robotic arm with a face attachment draws my portrait, chatting with me while it works. The result is highly accurate, but I feel it make me looks older than I am.<\/p>\n

Raphael Rashid has his portrait drawn at Galaxy Robot Park. Photograph: Moon Seon Choi<\/p>\n

Up the hill, there\u2019s also a boxing ring where visitors can control humanoid fighters through a mirroring system, watching their movements replicated in real time as the machines battle each other.<\/p>\n

At one point a punch makes a glove fly off into the crowd. One robot falls off the stage, but recuperates and gets back into action.<\/p>\n

Galaxy also plans to stage what it calls the world\u2019s first robot fashion show in late May, followed by the launch of a robot fashion label. Choi offers few details about how exactly robots will model clothing or what a robot fashion brand might entail.<\/p>\n

Boxing robots entertain the crowds. Photograph: Galaxy Entertainment<\/p>\n

The broader vision involves deploying K-pop performing robots to places where human stars cannot easily travel, including war zones. Once choreography is programmed into one robot, all robots worldwide can instantly learn and perform it, enabling concurrent shows across multiple countries.<\/p>\n

The real question for music critic Cha, is whether robots can replicate K-pop\u2019s essential ingredient: emotional connection with fans. \u201cThat will determine if this is a genuine cultural shift or just a novelty show.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Four child-sized humanoid robots take the stage at an arena in eastern Seoul, and as the opening beats…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":691738,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[49,48,75,341],"class_list":["post-691737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=691737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691737\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/691738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=691737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=691737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=691737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}