US and China Already Betting Their Lives... South Korea Also Starts 'Quantum Jump' in Quantum Technology

Government Holds 2nd Meeting of National Science and Technology Advisory Council's Quantum Technology Special Committee
Discusses Quantum Technology 'Quantum Jump' Strategy, R&D Investment, and Roadmap

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] The government is set to fully launch research and development in quantum technology, which has been criticized for lagging behind. This year alone, it will invest 70 billion won and formulate a long-term research plan to achieve a 'quantum jump' in quantum technology.

On the 25th, the Ministry of Science and ICT held the 2nd meeting of the National Science and Technology Advisory Council's Quantum Technology Special Committee to discuss these measures. At the meeting, three agenda items were discussed: the 'Quantum Technology Roadmap Promotion (Draft)', 'Direction for Large-scale Quantum Technology R&D Projects', and '2023 Government R&D Investment Direction for Quantum Technology'.

The government plans to finalize the quantum technology roadmap within this year. Since last October, a working group centered on private experts has been formed to derive a technology classification system (draft) for three fields: quantum computing, quantum communication, and quantum sensing. Going forward, a joint public-private expert TF will be formed to announce a technology roadmap in the second half of this year that includes achievement targets and phased implementation plans for each technology. In addition to technical perspectives, the roadmap will consider commercialization, with participation from not only science and technology but also industry and defense/security ministries.

They also discussed the direction for large-scale quantum technology R&D projects. South Korea is a latecomer in quantum technology, lagging more than five years behind major advanced countries. Government investment has also been low, with 10.6 billion won in 2019, 23.5 billion won in 2020, and 32.8 billion won last year. However, this year, the government is significantly increasing R&D investment to 69.9 billion won to accelerate catching up. Compared to last year’s investments of 691.9 billion won in the U.S., 377.6 billion won in Japan, and 147 billion won in the U.K., it is still insufficient. At the meeting, they discussed promoting a long-term large-scale R&D project spanning over 10 years that covers fundamental research, commercialization, and research infrastructure in fields such as quantum foundational technologies, quantum computing, quantum communication, and quantum sensors.

Next year’s government R&D investment direction for quantum technology was also on the agenda. It includes forming research hubs centered on global leading research groups, exploring industrial and security applications of quantum technology, establishing support and fabrication infrastructure for quantum devices, expanding domestic educational infrastructure, and supporting international cooperation for follow-up measures after the Korea-U.S. summit.

Lee Kyung-soo, Director of the Science and Technology Innovation Bureau at the Ministry of Science and ICT, stated, “Quantum technology is an essential strategic technology that must secure leadership from the perspective of future industry and national security, but it is true that there are high barriers in terms of technological capability.” He added, “To overcome the gap and lead the world, it is necessary to expand R&D strategies and investments suited to our reality. It is an important time to solidly prepare a national-level quantum technology blueprint (roadmap) encompassing both public and private sectors and to vigorously promote a large-scale cross-ministerial quantum technology R&D project that considers commercialization.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.