Ku Hyuk-chae (구혁채), first vice minister at South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT, met Finland's Minister of Employment and the Economy Sakari Puisto in Seoul's Yeouido on Monday and discussed ways to cooperate in science, technology and digital fields.

The meeting took place two months after Antti Vasara (안티 바사라), technology envoy at Finland's Ministry for Foreign Affairs, visited South Korea in March. The two sides confirmed the complementarities of Finland's foundational technologies and South Korea's manufacturing and process technologies in future core technology areas such as AI, quantum and 6G.

The two sides also welcomed the launch of 7 joint projects worth about 206.5 billion won through Horizon Europe, the world's largest research and innovation programme, and agreed to cooperate to deliver results. More projects were submitted for a new joint research call in the 6G and quantum fields, up 50 percent from the previous round.

The two sides also agreed to expand their partnership by revising a "Memorandum of Understanding on Digital Economy Cooperation" signed in 2019 between the ministry and Finland's Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, in a way that provides practical support for joint projects and talent exchanges.

Ku said the combination of South Korea's ICT manufacturing and operational capabilities and Finland's foundational technologies could generate strong synergies in future digital markets. He said he hoped the meeting would broaden the horizon of science and technology cooperation between the two countries and serve as an opportunity to leap forward into a digital economy alliance.