Key Summary
- South Korea says the information retention time of a superconducting qubit has surpassed 100 microseconds.
- The figure is about twice the government’s 2027 target of 50 microseconds, reached about one year after the project began.
- The Ministry of Science and ICT said it will share the latest results at an annual meeting in Daejeon.
- The flagship quantum science and technology project covers 26 tasks across quantum computing, quantum communications, and quantum sensing.
- The first phase of the project, running from 2025 to 2029, has a total budget of about 360.4 billion won.
Main Story
South Korea’s push to develop a domestic quantum computer has reached an early milestone, with officials reporting that the coherence time of a superconducting qubit has exceeded 100 microseconds. That is roughly double the 50-microsecond level the government had set for 2027, and the result was achieved about a year after the program began.
The Ministry of Science and ICT said it would present the past year’s research progress at the annual meeting of the Quantum Science and Technology Flagship Project in Daejeon on the 10th. Around 150 people, including researchers and officials from 26 projects spanning quantum computing, quantum communications and quantum sensing, were expected to attend.
The government has identified quantum technology as one of its seven future growth engines and is promoting efforts to secure core technologies, accelerate commercialization and build an industrial ecosystem. The flagship project is described as a mission-oriented, large-scale research and development program intended to support that goal.
The first phase of the program covers 2025 to 2029 and has a total budget of about 360.4 billion won. It supports 26 core projects, including seven in quantum computing, six in quantum communications and 13 in quantum sensing.
The government has also established a legal framework through the Act on the Promotion of Quantum Science and Technology and Quantum Industry, which took effect in June. The law includes quantum cryptography, communications, sensors, devices, computers and simulators within the scope of quantum science and technology.
At the meeting, Baek Seung-wook, head of the Korea Research Foundation’s Quantum Science and Technology Flagship Project team, was scheduled to brief participants on the program’s progress and future strategy, while the 26 projects were to present interim research results.
The article also states that entanglement operations reached 99% accuracy, but it does not provide further technical details in the supplied text.
Background
The supplied article says the government selected quantum as one of its future growth drivers in August and has since been moving to secure key technologies and support early commercialization. No additional background was provided beyond the project structure, budget, and legal framework described above.
Items Requiring Further Verification
- The reported coherence time of more than 100 microseconds is presented as a research result, but the article does not provide the measurement conditions or independent confirmation in the supplied text.
- The statement that this is “double” the 2027 target of 50 microseconds is based on the figures provided in the article, but the underlying benchmark methodology is not explained.
- The claim that entanglement operations achieved 99% accuracy is mentioned without supporting detail or context in the supplied text.
- The article refers to project progress and future strategy to be presented at the meeting, but the supplied text does not include the full content of that presentation.