Discussion on Strengthening the Korea-US Science and Technology Alliance Gains Momentum

The 11th Korea-US Science and Technology Joint Committee Meeting Begins on the Morning of the 19th

Concrete discussions have begun to strengthen the 'Science and Technology Alliance' agreed upon during President Yoon Suk-yeol's visit to the United States.

Minister Lee Jong-ho of the Ministry of Science and ICT (right) accompanied President Yoon Seok-yeol on his visit to the United States at the end of April and signed the "Joint Statement on Strengthening Korea-US Quantum Science and Technology Cooperation" with Arati Prabhakar, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Photo by Ministry of Science and ICT

On the morning of the 19th, the Ministry of Science and ICT held the 11th Korea-US Joint Committee on Science and Technology (Science and Technology Joint Committee), a ministerial-level representative consultative body for Korea-US scientific and technological cooperation, at the Westin Chosun Hotel in Seoul to discuss comprehensive follow-up measures on the achievements of the April visit to the US.

The meeting was a large-scale event attended by over 100 officials from both sides, including Minister Lee Jong-ho of the Ministry of Science and ICT representing Korea and Arati Prabhakar, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, representing the United States. This intergovernmental regular meeting, held based on the "Korea-US Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement," has been ongoing since 1993. Various measures to activate scientific and technological cooperation between the two countries have been discussed. This is the first face-to-face meeting since the 9th session in March 2016 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In particular, progress in cooperation in various fields related to science and technology, agreed upon at the Korea-US summit held in Washington DC at the end of last month, is expected. The two countries discuss priorities for science and technology cooperation and future cooperation directions. They share policies and plan cooperation in next-generation semiconductors, nuclear fusion and nuclear physics, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology. Subsequently, they discuss ways to strengthen solidarity on fundamental elements of international cooperation such as personnel exchange, research ethics, and standards, as well as solutions to global issues using science and technology, including climate change response and polar oceans. They also address follow-up cooperation plans for overall scientific and technological achievements agreed upon at the recent summit, including space and quantum science and technology. To this end, a separate meeting between senior officials from the Ministry of Science and ICT and the US Department of State is also held.

Earlier, on the 17th, the 'Korea-US Quantum Round Table' was held at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), a major research institution in quantum science and technology, to discuss follow-up measures for the 'Korea-US Joint Statement on Quantum Science and Technology Cooperation' signed last month.

Minister Lee stated, "It is highly significant that a large number of US government officials in the field of science and technology visited Korea to share policies and exchange broad views among government officials for follow-up discussions on science and technology agreed upon at the Korea-US summit." He added, "With this Science and Technology Joint Committee as a turning point, various new collaborations such as joint research and development and personnel exchanges in all fields of advanced science and technology between the two countries will be promoted, and through this, the scope of the 'Korea-US Technology Alliance' is expected to expand further."

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