President Jae Myung Lee Makes a Surprise Visit to FIX 2025, Concluding Successfully

Editorial Team

Last updated 27-10-2025

4 min

The FIX 2025 Expo in Daegu showcased Korea’s leap into AI-driven innovation.

President Jae Myung Lee’s surprise visit energised exhibitors and underscored the event's national importance.

Highlighted were Unitree’s boxing humanoid and Xpeng’s futuristic UAM aircraft, debuting in Korea.

Foreign buyers from North America and Europe engaged in $2.

18 billion worth of consultations.

Keynotes by industry leaders focused on AI's future, blending technical insights with human innovation.

The 2025 Future Innovation Tech Expo – better known as FIX 2025 – wrapped up in Daegu with a real buzz in the air. Over four days, from the 22nd to the 25th of October, around 115,000 visitors flocked to EXCO to catch a glimpse of what many are calling Korea’s next big leap into AI-driven innovation. The event, running under the theme *“The Future Already Begun, All on AI,”* gathered 585 companies and 2,000 booths, including 117 global participants. For an expo that started out as a regional tech showcase, that’s a huge stride toward becoming a global innovation hub.

Things took an unexpected turn – in the best possible way – when President Jae Myung Lee made a surprise visit on the third day. After finishing a town hall session upstairs, he strolled through the robot exhibition hall, chatting with startup representatives and giving a few words of encouragement. You could sense the pride among the exhibitors; it’s not every day the country’s leader drops by your booth, after all. One insider at the AeiROBOT stand mentioned how much it energised the team, and frankly, who could blame them?

From humanoid robots to futuristic flying vehicles, FIX 2025 pulled no punches. Unitree’s boxing humanoid and Xpeng’s fancy UAM aircraft – both usually seen at big-league expos like CES and MWC – made their Korea debut here. It felt like a sign that Daegu’s ambitions to brand itself as a hub for intelligent mobility and robotics aren’t just talk. In fact, HL Robotics’ indoor autonomous parking robot, delightfully named *Parkie*, stole quite a few hearts (and headlines). And believe it or not, foreign buyers from places like North America and Europe showed up in droves, leading to about $2.18 billion in on-site consultations and roughly $790 million in potential contracts. Not bad at all, considering that’s more than triple last year’s figure.

The whole thing was a bit of a faff to move through, to be honest – the halls were that packed. But amid the crowd, you could spot big names that made the long trip worthwhile: Mercedes-Benz, Rivian, Continental, and even GM representatives. It’s a sign, I reckon, that Korean startups are no longer just catching up but starting to lead in certain niches. There was also good news for local companies like Zio Robot and Yujin Mechatronics, who caught the attention of Europe’s largest shipbuilder, Fincantieri. Those deals could well put Daegu on the global manufacturing map.

Keynotes added real depth to the expo. AeiROBOT’s co-founder Jae-kwon Han and Wrtn Technologies’ CEO Seyoung Lee, among others, spoke passionately about the future of AI. And when Lee Sedol – remember him, the Go player who took on AlphaGo? – shared his experience, the audience hung on every word. It wasn’t just technical talk; it was about the human side of innovation, which, well… hits home for those of us at Arageek who care deeply about startups finding their spark.

Daegu’s acting mayor, Jeong-gi Kim, rounded off the event by calling it a “meaningful venue” and promised to keep pushing forward with the city’s twin ambitions: establishing Daegu as the “AI Robot Capital” and a “Future Mobility Leading City.” Sounds ambitious, but judging from this year’s turnout, it’s not pie in the sky.

If there was one takeaway for me, it’s that the MENA region could draw a few lessons from Daegu’s push—a city energising its tech scene by blending public support with private innovation. When I saw those buzzing halls (and nearly lost my coffee in the crowd), it reminded me why we at Arageek keep banging on about community and vision. Because all said and done, whether you’re in Korea or Cairo, innovation thrives when people come together with a shared purpose. And FIX 2025 was spot on proof of that, even if my feet definately didn’t thank me for all that walking.

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