South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Science and ICT said they will hold the sixth Quantum Development Group (QDG) meeting in Seoul from Oct. 13 to 14, with participation from 13 countries including South Korea, the United States, Japan and Britain.

The Quantum Development Group is an international consultative body launched in July 2024 under U.S. leadership. It promotes cooperation for the responsible development and commercialisation of quantum technology. South Korea is participating as a joint lead country in investment along with Britain and Denmark.

The meeting brings together 13 countries including South Korea, the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Australia, Denmark, Finland, Canada, Sweden, the Netherlands and Switzerland. South Korea's government delegation is led by Park Jong-han (박종한), director-general for economic diplomacy coordination at the foreign ministry, and includes officials from the foreign ministry and the science ministry.

Participating countries will share activities carried out in three areas - protection, investment and standardisation - since the fifth meeting in London and discuss ways to cooperate going forward. In the protection area, they will share national best practices for strengthening research security. In investment, they will address ways to improve the investment environment and expand exchanges to support the growth of quantum companies. In standardisation, they will discuss international standards cooperation to improve the reliability of quantum technology and promote its use at industrial sites.

On Oct. 14, the second day of the meeting, an event linked to industry will also be held. South Korean companies and associations including the Korea Quantum Industry Association (KQIA), MegazoneCloud, LG Electronics, SDT, SK Telecom, IBM Korea and Quandela Korea will take part, along with companies and associations from the United States, Finland, Australia and Denmark. The event is set to present South Korean cases of quantum technology use and hold two panel discussions on industry demand and ways to expand the use of quantum technology.

Kim Jin-a (김진아), second vice foreign minister, said in opening remarks that South Korea is fostering quantum technology as one of seven SEED projects. "We need to strengthen economic security cooperation among QDG member countries while also promoting research cooperation based on trust and expanding cooperation among private companies," she said.

Koo Hyuk-chae (구혁채), first vice minister at the science ministry, stressed that as quantum technology stands at the threshold of industrialisation, it is important to organically connect the strengths held by countries and companies to accelerate technological development and industrialisation.

The government will continue follow-up discussions with member countries based on views presented at the meeting. It also plans to continue support for demonstration and commercialisation of quantum technology.