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| President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks while standing alongside U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris after touring NASA's Goddard Space Center in Greenbelt, Md., April 25 (local time). Yonhap |
By Baek Byung-yeul
Korea and the United States are expanding cooperation in advanced science and technology sectors such as space, quantum technology and biotechnology in the wake of President Yoon Suk Yeol's state visit to Washington last month, according to the science ministry, Thursday.
The Ministry of Science and ICT said that bilateral tech cooperation is expanding following the president's state visit to the U.S. and building a solid partnership with the U.S., a technological leader, is essential for Korea as countries are competing fiercely to secure technological leadership.
"It is expected that Korea will be able to solidify its position as a global technological powerhouse by laying the foundation for extensive science and technology cooperation between Korea and the U.S.," the science ministry said.
The most active cooperation between the two is expected to be in the space sector.
During his U.S. trip, President Yoon visited NASA's Goddard Space Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and the science ministry and NASA issued a joint statement on space cooperation.
"The joint statement between Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT and NASA marks a significant step forward in bilateral space cooperation to a full-fledged space alliance," President Yoon said during his visit to the space center on April 25.
As announced in the joint statement, the two countries will upgrade their cooperation, which has so far been centered on individual research institutes, to strategic cooperation among industry, academia, research and government.
To promote joint projects with NASA, the science ministry plans to collect opinions from industry, academia and research institutes here. NASA will discuss the schedule and procedures for project development in the near future.
The ministry added that it expects changes to the policy on U.S. satellite parts exports to have a positive effect on domestic launch vehicle service providers' market entry and will continuously monitor the new policy to ensure that domestic industry will benefit. In addition, the ministry plans to hold a space industry forum with the U.S. later this year to expand cooperation opportunities.
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| President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during a meeting with biotechnology experts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass., April 28 (local time). Joint Press Corps |
In the field of quantum technology, the ministry strengthened its cooperation system by joining a bilateral multilateral consultative group led by the U.S. The two countries will hold roundtables with experts this month and next to beef up collaboration in the field.
In the bio sector, the ministry is scheduled next month to announce what it calls the Digital Bio Initiative, presenting a blueprint for Korea's digital bio sector, following President Yoon's conversation with experts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) last month.
To discuss a follow-up measure, the two nations will hold the 11th meeting of the Korea-U.S. joint committee on science and technology, a ministerial-level meeting, in Seoul on May 19.
The Korean side will be represented by Science Minister Lee Jong-ho, while the U.S. side will be represented by Arati Prabhakar, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and science adviser to U.S. President Joe Biden. Also, about 60 high-ranking officials from the two sides will join the meeting.
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