South Korea and the Netherlands hold first joint committee on science and technology, discussing AI safety and quantum cooperation

South Korea and the Netherlands held their first joint science and technology committee meeting in Sejong on November 6, operating under a 2024 research and science cooperation memorandum of understanding, with the two sides sharing R&D investment priorities and discussing global research security, AI safety policy, and research commercialization. The Korea Research Foundation and the Dutch Research Council (NWO) agreed to design joint research models in areas of mutual interest and will issue a new call for bilateral international joint research projects. Korea proposed quantum cooperation built on the two countries' semiconductor capabilities, including quantum chip development, test measurement and standards work for international equivalence, links between the Korean quantum cluster and Dutch quantum foundation Delta NL, and stronger coordination on quantum technology export controls. The Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology proposed synthetic biology collaboration centered on infrastructure such as the national biofoundry. The talks matter because they widen a relationship previously anchored in semiconductors into quantum and synthetic biology, and the next thing to watch is the joint research call and whether the quantum and bio proposals translate into funded projects.