KISTEP held the 138th KISTEP Wednesday Forum "The Future of Quantum Communication: Quantum Cryptography to Quantum Internet" on September 8 to predict the future of communication industry and explore strategies for the development of quantum communication technology. The Wednesday forum was broadcast live online without external participants due to COVID-19, and can be viewed again through the KISTEP YouTube channel.

(Link) https://youtu.be/AK08vxGSCX4

Sang-sun Kim, president of KISTEP, said in an opening speech, "Quantum technology is a technology that will become a game changer for future industries and security, and Korea confirmed its significance at a meeting with science ministers in April, and is also considering investing in R&D strategies and establishing a special bilateral committee within the National Science and Technology Advisory Council. I hope this forum will be a place to look at the current situation and major issues that Korea faces on quantum technologies.”

▲ Sang-sun Kim, president of KISTEP, explaining the significance of the forum.

▲Sung-soo Park, head of ETRI's Quantum Technology Research Team, starting the presentation.

Sung-soo Park, head of ETRI's Quantum Technology Research Team, completed the presentation by explaining the principles and examples of quantum cryptography communication, introducing major countries' quantum technology national strategies, and suggesting Korea's quantum Internet research direction.

The following panel discussion was hosted by Young-soo Ryu, director at KISTEP, and participated by Young-tak Lee (head of SKT CR Support Office), Joon-koo Lee (professor of electrical and electronic engineering at KAIST), and Kyu-hwan Lee (senior researcher at IITP).

▲Young-tak Lee, head of SKT CR Support Office, participating in a panel discussion

Since the quantum industry is still in its infancy, support measures need to be prepared in the law to revitalize the ecosystem. Along with the improvement of the legal system, it was suggested that Korea should secure differentiated technological competitiveness to compete with countries around the world and win.

▲ Joon-koo Lee, professor of electrical and electronic engineering at KAIST.

He explained the value of quantum communication technology and argued that technological value evaluation in a somewhat symbolic sense should be introduced in order to evaluate the technological value of systems that has absolute security like quantum encryption keys.

▲Kyu-hwan Lee, senior researcher at IITP, discussing on the topic

He suggested that investments should be made with direction rather than marketability, and that fundamental parts should be developed by focusing first on materials or devices that can be derived from other fields. Finally, he said the industry should start thinking about what to do with the quantum Internet.