Korea, Netherlands open first science and technology joint committee

The science ministry said Friday it held the first Korea-Netherlands science and technology joint committee in Sejong, opening a formal research cooperation channel between the two countries built on a memorandum of understanding signed in The Hague in March 2024.

The meeting brought together Hwang Seong-hoon, the ministry's director general for international cooperation, and Susanne Caarls, director for European and international cooperation at the Netherlands' education, culture and science ministry, as the two chief delegates. The two sides shared their R&D investment priorities and main science and technology policies, and discussed global research security, artificial intelligence safety and the commercialization of research results.

On research security, the delegations compared their policy approaches and future plans, and agreed to strengthen cooperation on protecting the integrity of national research ecosystems while promoting international collaboration. On AI safety, the Korean side presented the work of its AI Safety Institute on identifying, evaluating and mitigating AI risks, while the Dutch Research Council described how it handles applications for research funding that use generative AI in the review process. On commercialization, Korea introduced support policies from its research and development special zones aimed at turning public research into businesses and technology startups, and shared cases including investment-raising and overseas market entry by research institute spin-offs.

The two sides also shared the status of science and technology ties through Horizon Europe and agreed to widen cooperation between leading research institutions. The Korean National Research Foundation and the Dutch Research Council plan to design joint research models in areas of shared interest and then call for new projects under a bilateral international joint research program.

The National Research Foundation proposed four areas of cooperation in quantum technology drawing on Korea's semiconductor manufacturing base: developing quantum chips, cooperating on testing, measurement and standards to secure international equivalence, linking Korea's quantum cluster with Quantum Delta NL, and strengthening coordination on quantum technology export controls. The Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology proposed cooperation in synthetic biology centered on Korea's policy, including a law on fostering the field enacted in 2025, and on national infrastructure such as its biofoundry.

"After the MOU was signed in 2024, working-level officials from both countries communicated closely in preparation, and today we have held a meaningful first science and technology joint committee," Hwang said. He added that the two countries would now extend cooperation from semiconductors to advanced science and technology more broadly, including quantum and synthetic biology.

The Dutch delegation included the education, culture and science ministry, the Dutch Research Council, Eindhoven University of Technology and the Netherlands embassy in Seoul. Korea's side included the science ministry, the National Research Foundation, the bioscience institute and the AI Safety Institute.