South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT is expanding international cooperation with 13 major countries to industrialise quantum technology.

The ministry said on Tuesday it will host the ninth Multilateral Dialogue on Quantum Technology (MDQ) and a Quantum Technology Commercialisation Business Night in Seoul through Oct. 16.

MDQ is an intergovernmental consultative body where quantum technology policymakers from major countries discuss cooperation in research and development (R&D) and commercialisation. It began in the United States in 2022, and South Korea joined in 2023. Thirteen countries, including South Korea, the United States, Britain, Japan and France, are taking part.

The event is linked to the sixth Quantum Development Group (QDG) meeting and focuses on expanding intergovernmental policy discussions into practical industrial cooperation. At the MDQ plenary session, which will be held for two days from Oct. 15 at the Jeongdong 1928 Art Center in Seoul, participants will share each country's quantum technology policies and implementation status and discuss quantum technology recommendations the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 발표 in May.

In a host-country special session, South Korea will present development plans for three major quantum clusters: quantum computing in Seoul, quantum communications in South Jeolla and Gwangju, and quantum sensing in the southeastern region. It will also discuss measures to foster startups and conduct technology demonstrations in linkage with overseas companies and research institutions.

It will also propose new cooperation agendas, including pursuing a multilateral joint R&D programme and conducting a survey on trends in cross-border mobility of quantum specialists. With six countries — the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Japan and Finland — it will hold separate working-level quantum talks to discuss joint research, personnel exchanges, and manufacturing and industrial cooperation measures.

A Quantum Technology Commercialisation Business Night will be held on Tuesday at the Four Seasons Hotel Seoul. Overseas participants include IBM, IonQ, Quandela, IQM, Pasqal and D-Wave, as well as the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Britain's National Physical Laboratory (NPL). Domestic participants include LG Electronics, POSCO Holdings, Samsung SDS, SK Telecom and SDT, along with major universities and research institutions.

The event will share Britain's policies on quantum computing technology development and public procurement, and domestic and overseas companies will present cases of industrial applications of quantum computing. IBM will present ways to use a combination of quantum computing, AI and supercomputers for new materials and new drug development and for finance. Quandela will share the industrial applicability of photonic-based quantum computing, while Norma and Qunova will share industrial application cases such as new materials exploration and chemical reaction analysis using quantum computing.

The government's plan to develop a next-generation quantum computer will also be introduced. Soon-chil Lee (이순칠), project director (PD) of the K-Moonshot project, will present major programmes including the domestically made quantum computer grand manufacturing challenge and the quantum-AI convergence gain challenge research, both planned to be newly 추진 from 2027.

The ministry plans to enhance South Korea's competitiveness in quantum technology through seven SEED and the K-Moonshot programme, among other initiatives, and expand international cooperation that combines overseas research capabilities with South Korea's semiconductor, electrical and electronics, and manufacturing base.

Goo Hyuk-chae (구혁채), first vice minister of the ministry, said, "To accelerate the commercialisation of quantum technology, we need to strengthen international cooperation that links each country's research capabilities and industrial strengths." He added, "Using this QDG-MDQ meeting as a momentum, we will spare no support so that we can connect each country's strengths, 추진 concrete cooperation tasks, and lead them to results."