The government will expand its demonstration base to support the commercialisation and overseas expansion of domestic quantum communications technology.

The Ministry of Science and ICT said it held a kickoff briefing on the "Open Quantum Testbed Advancement and Expansion Project" on Oct. 21 at the Pangyo Business Support Hub with the National Information Society Agency (NIA).

The open quantum testbed is a demonstration space where companies and research institutions jointly use a quantum cryptography communications test network and expensive measurement equipment to verify the performance of technologies and products. The government has supported technology verification and commercialisation preparations by building a test environment on the Seoul-Pangyo-Daejeon route since 2024.

Through the project, the existing demonstration base will be expanded to three hubs: commercial, overseas and future. The project will run for three years from 2026 to 2028. A total of 7.4 billion won will be invested this year, including 3.75 billion won in government funding and 3.65 billion won in private contributions. A KT-led consortium will take charge of the commercial and future hubs, while an SK Broadband-led consortium will handle the overseas hub.

The commercial hub will extend the existing test network to Daegu this year and expand it in stages to Gwangju and Busan in 2027 and to the Gangwon region in 2028. It will apply quantum cryptography communications to data transmission in research, medical and financial sectors and verify whether domestically produced equipment from different manufacturers can interoperate.

The overseas hub will pursue cross-border quantum security demonstrations by linking with quantum testbeds in Singapore, Poland and Bulgaria. It will apply quantum key distribution (QKD) on domestic and overseas local segments and post-quantum cryptography (PQC) on long-distance international segments. Through this, it will demonstrate research data transmission and protection of future urban air mobility (UAM) data, and confirm the possibility of applying domestic technologies and equipment overseas.

At the future hub, it will build a verification environment for next-generation quantum communications technologies, including long-distance wireless quantum cryptography communications and quantum entanglement distribution among multiple sites. The goal is to support development of core technologies needed to implement a quantum network.

Yoon Kyung-sook (윤경숙), director general for Basic and Fundamental Research Policy at the ministry, said, "To bring forward the commercialisation of quantum technology, a demonstration base that can verify technologies and products in diverse environments is important." She said, "Through expanding the domestic testbed and linking it overseas, we will increase demonstration opportunities for companies and strengthen testing, verification and technical support."