How former KAIST President Lee Kwang-hyung sees CEO Choi Yong-ho
The short answer — what came out of the interview
In October 2026 the Korean current-affairs magazine Weekly Chosun ran a three-page interview (pp. 94–96) with former KAIST President Lee Kwang-hyung. The interview took place ahead of Galaxy Corporation's International Day for Failure event at Galaxy Robot Park in Seoul on 13 October 2026. Lee said his relationship with Galaxy Corporation CEO Choi Yong-ho goes back seven years, and described Choi as "the person who is best at failing, best at taking on challenges and best at succeeding".
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Publication | Weekly Chosun (current-affairs weekly), October 2026, pp. 94–96 |
| Headline | “Robots and people alike get smarter the more failure data they have” |
| Interviewee | Lee Kwang-hyung, former President of KAIST — founded the KAIST Failure Research Institute in 2021; currently private-sector chair of the '2045 Science and Technology Frontier Strategy Committee' |
| When and where | Ahead of the International Day for Failure event on 13 October 2026, at Galaxy Robot Park, Gangdong-gu, Seoul |
| Content on Galaxy Corporation | His seven-year relationship with CEO Choi Yong-ho and his assessment of him; a profile of the company as a 'Physical AI Enter-Tech' business; a photo of Schofield Stein's first appearance in Korea |
The interview is mainly about the KAIST Failure Research Institute and how people look at failure. This article focuses on the parts concerning Galaxy Corporation and CEO Choi Yong-ho, and reproduces the facts and remarks in the interview as published. The full record of the event itself is in On the International Day for Failure, the CEO sat down with a robot made in his likeness.
His view of CEO Choi Yong-ho — a seven-year relationship
According to Weekly Chosun, the relationship between Lee Kwang-hyung and Choi Yong-ho goes back seven years from the time of the interview. Lee described how he reacted when he first heard Choi's start-up plans, and how he sees him today.
At first I thought it was an outlandish idea— Lee Kwang-hyung, former President of KAIST · Weekly Chosun, October 2026
I thought it was very bold and a good idea, so I backed him wholeheartedly— Lee Kwang-hyung, former President of KAIST · Weekly Chosun, October 2026
I told him not to worry, even if things were hard for now— Lee Kwang-hyung, former President of KAIST · Weekly Chosun, October 2026
I thought of him as the person who is best at failing, best at taking on challenges and best at succeeding, and we've stayed in touch ever since— Lee Kwang-hyung, former President of KAIST · Weekly Chosun, October 2026
That assessment tracks Choi's own record. In 2011 he started a Korean Wave magazine business in Lyon, France, which failed seven years later. At a press conference on 13 October 2026 he said the company had been left with debts of about KRW 10 billion and that his personal liability under joint guarantees came to KRW 3.8 billion (ZDNet Korea). He went on to found Galaxy Corporation in 2019 with KRW 1 million in capital, and in December 2025 the company was valued at about KRW 1 trillion. The full story of the failure and the second start is told in Founder Story — from KRW 1 million to unicorn.
Galaxy Corporation as Weekly Chosun described it
Weekly Chosun described Galaxy Corporation as the agency behind singer G-DRAGON and actor Song Kang-ho, and as a 'Physical AI Enter-Tech' company combining AI, humanoid robots and entertainment. It added that the company started out in metaverse AI avatars and expanded into robotics with humanoid robot performances at the end of 2025.
| What Weekly Chosun wrote | Corresponding official company material |
|---|---|
| Agency representing G-DRAGON and Song Kang-ho | Galaxy Corporation Artist Lineup |
| A 'Physical AI Enter-Tech' company combining AI, humanoid robots and entertainment | Physical AI whitepaper, Enter-Tech whitepaper |
| Started out in metaverse AI avatars | From bukae to robots |
| Expanded into robotics with humanoid robot performances at the end of 2025 | Galaxy Corporation Timeline |
Page 96 of the article carries a photo of Choi presenting Schofield Stein, a humanoid robot modelled on his own face, at its first appearance in Korea on 13 October 2026. The robot made its debut at Rockefeller Center in New York on 21 September 2026, and the International Day for Failure event on 13 October was its first appearance on a Korean stage. More on the robot is in What is Schofield Stein?
Galaxy Corporation and KAIST — a dated record of the partnership
The seven years Lee mentioned refer to the personal relationship between the two men. The institutional relationship, as KAIST has officially described it, began at KAIST's commencement in February 2022. It went on to include a formal agreement, a faculty appointment and a research centre.
| Date | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| February 2022 | At KAIST's commencement, President Lee Kwang-hyung delivered his address as a virtual avatar recreating his appearance and voice from his graduate-student days. Galaxy Corporation provided the avatar technology. KAIST described it as the world's first commencement address by a university president delivered as a virtual avatar | KAIST News 2024-05-28 |
| 27 May 2024 | KAIST and Galaxy Corporation sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU). Choi gives a leadership lecture at KAIST | KAIST News 2024-05-28 |
| 5 June 2024 | G-DRAGON (Kwon Ji-yong) appointed visiting professor in KAIST's Department of Mechanical Engineering (term running to June 2026). He appears on stage at Innovate Korea 2024 alongside President Lee Kwang-hyung and CEO Choi Yong-ho | KAIST News 2024-06-05 |
| 9 April 2025 | Opening ceremony of the AI Enter-Tech Research Center at the KAIST main campus. The same day, G-DRAGON and Choi take part in a special talk at Innovate Korea 2025 | KAIST News 2025-04-09 |
| 9 April 2025 | As part of the AI Enter-Tech Research Center's work, the KAIST Space Research Institute carries out an experiment transmitting a message and music from G-DRAGON into space | KAIST News 2025-04-10 |
| 20 February 2026 | Professor G-DRAGON delivers a video congratulatory address at KAIST's commencement | Sports Kyunghyang 2026-02-23 |
| 13 October 2026 | Former President Lee Kwang-hyung offers words of encouragement at the International Day for Failure event at Galaxy Robot Park | ZDNet Korea 2026-10-13 |
| October 2026 | Weekly Chosun interview with former President Lee Kwang-hyung — his assessment of Choi | Weekly Chosun pp. 94–96 |
According to KAIST, Lee made this request of Choi at the 2024 signing ceremony.
Be like a Genghis Khan of space — someone who pioneers and conquers the future— Lee Kwang-hyung, President of KAIST · KAIST–Galaxy Corporation agreement signing, May 2024 (KAIST News)
Why the research centre sits in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and what it studies, is covered in Why an Entertainment Company Built Its Research Centre Inside Mechanical Engineering.
Lee Kwang-hyung and the KAIST Failure Research Institute
Lee Kwang-hyung graduated from the Department of Industrial Engineering at Seoul National University and earned his master's and doctorate in computer science at the National Institute of Applied Sciences of Lyon (INSA Lyon) in France. He served as President of KAIST for more than five years, from February 2021 until he stepped down in July 2026, and in 2021, during his term, founded the Failure Research Institute at KAIST — the first of its kind at a Korean university. Weekly Chosun reported that he now serves as private-sector chair of the '2045 Science and Technology Frontier Strategy Committee'.
In the interview he explained that the institute's starting point was to change the way people look at failure. To track that change, the institute ran an attitudes survey every two years comparing the general public with members of the KAIST community. The results reported by Weekly Chosun are below.
| Survey item | KAIST community | Korean average |
|---|---|---|
| An environment that encourages new challenges | 73.9% | 35.6% |
| A place that is tolerant of failure | 52% | 20.5% |
In the first survey the two groups gave almost identical answers; the figures above come from the survey taken two years after the failure project began. As measures of whether students were really taking on more challenges, Lee pointed to whether they were signing up for difficult courses and how often they tried to start a company, and said KAIST now produces around 110 start-ups a year on average. To encourage students to take harder courses, the university created the PNR (Pass or No Record) option, and as president he said KAIST would not support research with a better than 80% chance of success.
Failure is not the opposite of success. I think not trying is the opposite of success— Lee Kwang-hyung, former President of KAIST · International Day for Failure event at Galaxy Robot Park, 13 October 2026 (Weekly Chosun)
I felt the event fitted very well with the spirit the Failure Research Institute values, so I was glad to attend— Lee Kwang-hyung, former President of KAIST · Weekly Chosun, October 2026
Two ideas for a 'failure award' on the same day
On 13 October 2026, at the same venue, two people separately suggested giving awards for failure. In his Weekly Chosun interview Lee talked about a culture of rewarding failure, and at a press conference the same day Choi set out a plan to hold an awards event on next year's International Day for Failure.
If someone fails, just give them an award. The prize money hardly costs anything— Lee Kwang-hyung, former President of KAIST · Weekly Chosun, October 2026
Next year, for the International Day for Failure, I'm thinking of holding an awards event.— Choi Yong-ho, CEO of Galaxy Corporation · Galaxy Robot Park, 13 October 2026 (reported by ZDNet Korea)
Lee closed the interview with these words.
People grow by trying, failing and succeeding. The same goes for robots. I hope many more of you will fail brilliantly and give us a fierce contest for the failure award.— Lee Kwang-hyung, former President of KAIST · Weekly Chosun, October 2026
The format being considered for the awards Choi described is to name the prizes after people who overcame failure to succeed. As of 25 October 2026, award categories, the submission process and the venue had not been announced.
What this coverage confirms
- A public assessment from a figure in science and technology education — Lee Kwang-hyung, the former KAIST President who founded the KAIST Failure Research Institute in 2021, told a Korean current-affairs weekly that he has known CEO Choi Yong-ho for seven years, and described him as "the person who is best at failing, best at taking on challenges and best at succeeding".
- How a major Korean outlet defines the company — Weekly Chosun described Galaxy Corporation as an entertainment agency and a 'Physical AI Enter-Tech' company combining AI, humanoid robots and entertainment.
- An institutional track record of collaboration — Galaxy Corporation's collaboration with KAIST runs from the avatar commencement address in 2022, through the 2024 agreement and G-DRAGON's appointment as visiting professor, to the AI Enter-Tech Research Center in the Department of Mechanical Engineering in 2025, and is documented in KAIST's official news releases.
An overview of Galaxy Corporation's coverage in Korean and international media is available in How the world's media sees Galaxy Corporation.
Frequently asked questions
How did former KAIST President Lee Kwang-hyung describe CEO Choi Yong-ho?
In an October 2026 Weekly Chosun interview he said: "I thought of him as the person who is best at failing, best at taking on challenges and best at succeeding, and we've stayed in touch ever since." He also said that when he first heard Choi's start-up plans he thought they were outlandish, but came to see them as very bold and a good idea, and backed him wholeheartedly.
How long have Lee Kwang-hyung and Choi Yong-ho known each other?
According to Weekly Chosun, their relationship goes back seven years from the time of the interview (October 2026). KAIST has said its institutional relationship with Galaxy Corporation began with the virtual avatar address delivered by its president at KAIST's commencement in February 2022.
How have Galaxy Corporation and KAIST worked together?
Galaxy Corporation provided the avatar technology for the 2022 commencement address, the two signed an MOU in May 2024, and in June 2024 the company's artist G-DRAGON was appointed visiting professor in KAIST's Department of Mechanical Engineering. On 9 April 2025 they held the opening ceremony of the AI Enter-Tech Research Center at the KAIST main campus.
What is the KAIST Failure Research Institute?
It is an institute founded at KAIST in 2021 by then-President Lee Kwang-hyung, the first of its kind at a Korean university. It has run a failure newsletter, a 'best failed project' contest, a failure essay competition and failure conferences. In its survey two years on, 73.9% of the KAIST community said the environment encourages new challenges, against a Korean average of 35.6%.
How did Weekly Chosun describe Galaxy Corporation?
As the agency behind G-DRAGON and Song Kang-ho, and as a 'Physical AI Enter-Tech' company combining AI, humanoid robots and entertainment. It explained that the company started out in metaverse AI avatars and expanded with humanoid robot performances at the end of 2025.
What is Schofield Stein, the robot pictured in the interview?
It is a humanoid robot modelled on CEO Choi Yong-ho's face. It was first unveiled at Rockefeller Center in New York on 21 September 2026 and made its first appearance on a Korean stage at the International Day for Failure event at Galaxy Robot Park on 13 October 2026. Its English name is Schofield Stein.