Insider Brief
- South Korea plans to establish a Quantum Strategy Committee by the first quarter of this year to drive its national quantum technology development, according to Vice Minister Lee Chang-yoon.
- The committee, created under the “Act on the Promotion of Quantum Science and Technology and Quantum Industry,” will involve government ministries, academia and industry to shape strategies for advancing quantum innovation.
- Despite delays due to political challenges, preparations for the committee’s launch are complete, with experts predicting 2025 will be a transformative year for South Korea’s quantum technology sector.
Despite political disruptions, South Korea’s leaders plan to immediately convene a Quantum Strategy Committee to advance efforts in quantum technology development, according to the country’s press.
“We will launch a Quantum Strategy Committee within the first quarter of this year to discuss a top strategy related to quantum technology,” said Vice Minister Lee Chang-yoon of the Ministry of Science and ICT, as reported by Chosun Biz.
Lee spoke about the committee at the K-Quantum Square Meeting, an event for sharing trends in quantum technology and facilitating networking between the scientific community and the industry, according to the business site.
The Quantum Strategy Committee, formed under the “Act on the Promotion of Quantum Science and Technology and Quantum Industry,” which became law in November of the previous year, is designed as a collaborative body involving multiple government ministries and private-sector experts, Chosun Biz reports. Led by the Prime Minister, the committee includes representatives from eight central government ministries, alongside academia, industry, and research institutions, to shape national strategies for advancing quantum technology.
Although the nation planned to launch the committee by the end of last year, political disruptions, including a state of emergency and impeachment proceedings, delayed the creation of the committee.
“While the composition of the Quantum Strategy Committee’s members is delayed, preparations for its launch are complete,” said Lee Jong-woo, head of the Quantum Science and Technology Industry Team at the Ministry of Science and ICT, as reported by Chosun Biz. “We are working hard to ensure it can launch in a short time.”
Lee predicts 2025 will be pivotal for quantum tech in South Korea.
“This year will be the first year of commercialization of quantum science and technology,” Lee told the event attendees.
This year, K-Quantum Square Meeting attracted more than 450 participants attended, Chosun Biz reports, including Vice Minister Lee, Professor Kim Jae-wan from the Institute for Basic Science, and Professor Jung Yeon-wook from Sungkyunkwan University.
