K-pop androids and automated artists: welcome to South Korea’s strange and ambitious robot theme park

Galaxy Robot Park in South Korea hopes to attract tourists to concerts and fashion shows, but can robots ever replicate K-pop’s connection with fans?

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 star G-Dragon begin, they start to dance.

Arms swinging, legs stepping in sync, heads bobbing, wigs and baggy clothes swishing, until – mid-performance – one of them seemingly malfunctions and has to be removed from the stage.