Lee Min-hyung joined The Korea Times in 2014 and has worked as a journalist mainly in Korea’s finance, tech and automotive industry. He specializes in content creation, breaking news and in-depth analysis currently on transportation and mobility. You can reach him via mhlee@koreatimes.co.kr.
Hyundai Motor union warns against humanoid robot deployment
Boston Dynamics' Atlas humanoid robots are displayed at the Hyundai Motor Group booth for CES 2026 in Las Vegas, Jan. 6. Reuters-Yonhap
By Lee Min-hyung
Hyundai Motor’s labor union stated its strong opposition to the carmaker’s plan for deploying humanoid robots across its major assembly lines here and abroad.
“The introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) robots — aimed at cutting labor costs — becomes visible,” the union said in a statement, Thursday. “The union warns that not a single robot can be deployed at worksites without an agreement between the union and management.”
Starting this year, Hyundai Motor Group has identified the Atlas humanoid robot as its next major growth engine in the burgeoning era of physical AI.
The carmaker unveiled the vision during this year’s CES tech fair when it displayed a concrete plan to deploy Boston Dynamics’ Atlas robots to Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA) by 2028.
Regarding concerns over the impact on the job market, Hyundai Motor said robots will focus primarily on repetitive and dangerous tasks avoided by humans, so the deployment of humanoid robots at factories will improve the overall labor efficiency.
The union, however, stepped up its negative rhetoric against the carmaker’s plan, saying that mass production of robots and their deployment at worksites will deal a severe blow to its labor force.
“Under no circumstances will workers welcome the plan, as the robot deployment will bring a huge employment shock,” the union said.
According to the union, the carmaker needs to bear continued labor costs when hiring humans, but this is not the case when manufacturing robots.
“This is a good excuse for capitalists who seek to maximize profits from a long-term viewpoint,” the union said.
The annual maintenance cost for a humanoid robot, such as Atlas, is estimated to reach up to 14 million won ($9,500) each year, but the figure is far lower than typical labor costs.
The union also criticized management for its plan to expand production capacity at its overseas plants, such as HMGMA in the United States.
“For now, the plant’s annual capacity is below 100,000 vehicles, but the carmaker plans to increase the figure to more than 500,000 by 2028, which is seen as the carmaker’s obvious intention to relocate domestic car production to overseas factories,” the union said.
Hyundai Motor Group recently became the nation’s third-most valuable firm by market capitalization on investors’ growing optimism for its robotics vision.