The Rok-us Alliance Has Expanded To Include Technology In Addition To The Military And Economy

On the 9th, Korea and the United States held the first Korea-US Next Generation Critical and Emerging Technologies Dialogue in Seoul.

This meeting was co-chaired by Director of the National Security Office Cho Tae-yong and U.S. White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, and the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and the Ministry of Health and Welfare attended.

On the U.S. side, the State Department, Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, White House Office of Epidemic Preparedness and Response Policy (OPPR), and Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) attended.

Director of National Security Cho Tae-yong said in his remarks that the future of geopolitics under the recent polycrisis situation depends on each country's technology and innovation, and that Korea also considered the core emerging technology policy as an important axis of its security policy. He explained that he is pursuing the enactment of laws, the launch of a joint response team for technology leaks across government agencies, and the expansion of the global joint research budget.

Aide Jake Sullivan said he was pleased to be holding this Korea-U.S. Next-Generation Core Emerging Technology Dialogue. He said that he hopes that the two countries will strengthen cooperation in key emerging technologies, such as joint research, as allies.

At the meeting, the two countries discussed semiconductors, quantum, bio, batteries, clean energy, AI, etc. We discussed comprehensive cooperation measures across the entire technology cycle, including joint research, investment, standards, and human resources development in areas such as digital.

Based on these successes, both nations anticipate that their high-tech cooperation will advance to the next level and that their cooperation in technology and security will have a greater synergistic effect. It is specifically anticipated that the ROK-US alliance will establish itself as a comprehensive strategic alliance that includes technology in addition to military and economic ties through this meeting.

It was decided at this meeting to investigate ways to work together in the semiconductor technology center that the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Ministry of Commerce of both countries are promoting, as well as to increase opportunities for cooperative research support between the Ministry of Science and ICT and the U.S. National Science Foundation in the semiconductor field.

agreed to comprehensive cooperation, including cooperation between research-oriented hospitals, and also decided to strengthen cooperation related to the U.S. Cancer Moonshot Initiative 2.0. In the bio field, the Ministry of Science and ICT and the U.S. National Science Foundation decided to provide at least $10 million in support for research cooperation in the bio-economy field. 

The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the U.S. NIH established a physician-scientist exchange program and biomedical research cooperation. Additionally, a 1.5 track channel to discuss ways to fortify the pharmaceutical supply chain will be launched within the next year, involving the governments of both countries and pharmaceutical companies.

In order to develop next-generation batteries, it was decided to expand research and development among national research institutes in the field of clean energy and batteries. Additionally, an MOU between the U.S. EVSTS and the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology Planning and Evaluation would strengthen joint research cooperation.