South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT held the 2026 Korea-EU Research and Innovation Day on March 24 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Seoul with the National Research Foundation of Korea and the EU Delegation to South Korea.

The event was the first jointly hosted by the two sides since South Korea joined Horizon Europe as an associate member. Pre-registrations reached 650. Horizon Europe is the EU's largest multilateral research and innovation programme, with a total investment of 95.5 billion euros over 2021 to 2027. South Korea is the third non-European country to become an associate member and the first in Asia.

At the event, a deputy director-general of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Research and Innovation presented a vision for cooperation with South Korea. Luke O'Neill, a European Research Council (ERC) member, stressed the need for international cooperation in a keynote speech. The main contents of the Horizon Europe 2026-2027 work programme and European research administration guidelines were also introduced.

In Horizon Europe calls for 2025, 28 research teams including South Korean researchers have been selected so far. The projects include 3 in health and medicine, 14 in digital and industry, 4 in climate and energy, and 6 in food and biodiversity. In a networking session, researchers from European countries including France and Denmark held pitching sessions to find South Korean partners.

Kang Sang-wook (강상욱), director general for planning and coordination at the ministry, said this year marks the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Korea-EU Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement and will be a new turning point for research cooperation.