South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT said it held the seventh Korea-Switzerland Joint Committee on Science and Technology in Bern, Switzerland on Tuesday. It said it will attend a Korea-Switzerland science cooperation event on Wednesday to discuss ways to promote cooperation between researchers.

South Korea and Switzerland signed a science and technology cooperation agreement in 2008 and have held the joint committee regularly since 2009. Hwang Seong-hoon (황성훈), the ministry's director general for international cooperation, and Jacques Ducrest, international director at the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation, attended as head delegates.

The two sides shared major policy trends in science and technology and health R&D. They reviewed cooperation results since the sixth meeting, including joint research and exchanges of doctoral-level personnel in fields such as quantum, digital health, systems biology and climate change.

The two countries will expand cooperation programs linked to participation in Horizon Europe. Next year, they will strengthen cooperation, including trilateral joint research that covers science and technology and healthcare, as well as developing researcher exchange programs.

At a Korea-Switzerland science cooperation workshop to be held on Wednesday, researchers from both countries will discuss ways to participate in Horizon Europe and practical cooperation tasks in the life sciences.

Hwang said the joint committee and workshop would be an opportunity to solidify a strategic partnership with Switzerland, a key science and technology powerhouse in Europe. He said South Korea will lay a solid foundation to boost the global competitiveness of its science and technology through close cooperation with Switzerland.