Diden Robotics Appoints Former Hanwha Robotics CEO Byungchan Jung as Chief Product Officer

Diden Robotics, an industrial physical AI company, announced on October 20 that it has appointed Byungchan Jung, former CEO of Hanwha Robotics, as its Chief Product Officer (CPO).

At Hanwha Robotics, Jung led the development of next-generation collaborative robots and the productization of mobile robots, and became CEO in July 2024. Before that, he served as head of the robot business team and head of the robot technology team in Hanwha's Machinery and Momentum divisions, then oversaw technology as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Hanwha Robotics. As CEO, he led the expansion of the company's robot lineup and its sales network in Korea and overseas.

The appointment is seen as Diden Robotics moving beyond field validation of its physical AI and into mass production. At Diden Robotics, Jung will be responsible for the productization of the quadruped robot Diden Spider, along with the bipedal platform Diden Walker and Diden Humanoid.

Founded in March 2024 by four researchers from the KAIST Humanoid Robot Research Center, Diden Robotics is drawing attention as an industrial physical AI company that addresses labor shortages in shipbuilding with the magnetic-foot walking robots it develops itself. Diden Spider is currently in welding trials at Korea's three major shipbuilders, and the company has signed its first export contract with a European customer.

Mass production is next. Diden Robotics plans to begin mass production of Diden Spider in 2027, deploy about 250 units to industrial sites in 2028, and begin mass production of its humanoid the same year. By 2030, it aims to expand beyond shipyards into construction and ship operations and deploy thousands of units. Jung will lead productization through this process.

"Now that Diden Robotics' robots have begun to be used in the field, I saw this as the most important time for productization," said Byungchan Jung, CPO of Diden Robotics. "I will build customer needs into our products and secure safety and reliability, while setting up mass production, quality and customer support systems so that the three robots can be used reliably at more industrial sites."

"Diden Robotics is now moving past proving its technology and into mass production," said Joonha Kim, co-founder and CEO of Diden Robotics. "Together with CPO Byungchan Jung, who has led robots from development to launch, we will make Spider, Walker and Humanoid into products that people in the field can trust and use."