Science ministry convenes first Korea-Singapore science committee meeting

South Korea's science ministry said Tuesday it convened its first science and technology joint committee with Singapore online, putting into effect a bilateral cooperation memorandum signed during a March summit. The governments chose biotechnology and semiconductors as priority fields and agreed to begin a three-year joint research program in 2027.

The memorandum was signed on March 2 in Singapore during a summit between the countries' leaders. At that time, the two sides agreed to step up science and technology cooperation in SMR, advanced biotechnology and semiconductors.

Hwang Seong-hoon, the science ministry's international cooperation director, and Tan Kai-sin, director of innovation research and development at Singapore's Ministry of Trade and Industry, headed the first committee. Government officials and representatives of research foundations from the two countries attended the virtual meeting, where they exchanged science and technology policies and discussed priority areas for cooperation.

"Following the March science and technology cooperation memorandum with Singapore's Ministry of Trade and Industry, we convened the joint committee and established a bilateral science and technology cooperation framework. Through joint research, we expect to create advanced science and technology cooperation outcomes that lead the world by combining the strengths of both countries," Hwang said.

Singapore has strengths in biopharmaceuticals and semiconductor packaging and equipment, while South Korea has world-class biosimilar production capability and advanced semiconductor manufacturing capacity, including HBM. Singapore's National University ranked 10th in the 2027 QS World University Rankings, and South Korea ranked second for science and technology infrastructure in the IMD international competitiveness assessment.

The countries said they would cooperate closely on procedures to select joint research projects and continue their cooperation framework through the committee.