Gangwon, Incheon, and Chungbuk Launch 'K-Quantum Bio Alliance'... Declare Ambition to Lead Quantum Economic Dominance

Gangwon, Incheon, and Chungbuk Forge a Super-Regional Quantum Bio Alliance
Combining Incheon and Chungbuk's Quantum Computing Resources with Gangwon's Medical Demonstration Infrastructure
Full-Cycle Value Chain Established... Formation of the 'K-Quantum Bio Triangle' Collaborative System

Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province, Incheon Metropolitan City, and Chungcheongbuk-do Province have joined forces to secure a leading position in the quantum industry, which is expected to become a core growth engine for South Korea's future. Their ambition is to gain dominance in the global quantum and bio markets through a super-regional alliance that bridges both the Seoul metropolitan area and non-metropolitan regions.

Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province held the launch ceremony of the 'K-QBT (Korea Quantum Bio Trinity) Alliance,' a super-regional cooperation system for fostering the national quantum industry, on the 21st at Yonsei University’s Songdo International Campus, together with Incheon City and Chungbuk Province. Provided by Gangwon Province

On May 21, Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province announced that it held the launch ceremony for the 'K-QBT (Korea Quantum Bio Trinity) Alliance,' a super-regional cooperation system for fostering the national quantum industry, together with Incheon City and Chungbuk Province at Yonsei University Songdo International Campus.

The launch event was attended by Kim Gwangrae, Vice Governor for Economic Affairs of Gangwon Province, Ha Byeongpil, Deputy Mayor for Administrative Affairs of Incheon, Lee Bokwon, Vice Governor for Economic Affairs of Chungbuk Province, as well as more than 130 representatives from universities, private companies, hospitals, and research institutes. During the ceremony, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed between local governments and innovation institutions, agreements were concluded among 14 universities, and letters of intent (LOIs) were signed by 136 companies, hospitals, and related organizations, marking the first step toward establishing a complete quantum ecosystem.

This alliance was formed to jointly respond to the 'National Quantum Cluster Designation Contest' being promoted by the Ministry of Science and ICT. The three regions aim to organically connect their unique bio and quantum infrastructures to establish a 'Global Quantum and Bio Mega Cluster' that will drive South Korea's next 100 years.

In particular, this collaboration is attracting significant attention from academia and industry because it will, for the first time in Korea, operate a 'super-regional bio full-cycle value chain.' This involves interlinking the only real quantum resources in Korea—such as Incheon's 'IBM 127-qubit (QB) quantum computer' and Chungbuk's 'IQM 5-qubit (QB) quantum computer'—and combining them with the abundant medical and bio demonstration infrastructure of Gangwon Province. As a result, the entire process from basic research and development (R&D), clinical trials, demonstration, regulatory approval, to final production and commercialization will be supported through a one-stop system.

Among the three, Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province will focus on the 'quantum sensing and demonstration sector,' leveraging its robust bio-healthcare and medical device industry base. Their plan is to create a quantum industrial ecosystem based on big data, dramatically shortening the timeline for new drug development and transforming the paradigm of the medical industry.

Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province held the launch ceremony of the 'K-QBT (Korea Quantum Bio Trinity) Alliance,' a super-regional cooperation system for fostering the national quantum industry, on the 21st at Yonsei University Songdo International Campus, together with Incheon City and Chungbuk Province. Provided by Gangwon Province

The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to designate three national quantum clusters across the country. Applications closed on May 18, and the final selection results are expected to be announced in July. Once designated as a cluster, the government will make large-scale investments from 2027 to 2030 in quantum transformation research and development (R&D), professional workforce training, business commercialization, and startup support.

Kim Gwangrae, Vice Governor for Economic Affairs of Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province, emphasized, "Quantum technology is a core strategic technology that will determine the competitiveness of future industries. We will strengthen our quantum technology demonstration base linked to Gangwon's bio-healthcare industry capabilities and take the lead in establishing a national quantum industry ecosystem through super-regional cooperation."

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