Bloomberg News reported on the 28th (local time) that Korea and the United States will sign an advanced science and technology agreement covering artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computers, space, and sixth-generation mobile communications (6G) in Gyeongju, where the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit is being held.
According to a U.S. official cited anonymously by Bloomberg, the agreement is set to be signed to coincide with the summit between President Lee Jae-myung and U.S. President Donald Trump scheduled for the 29th. On the U.S. side, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios is expected to sign.
The agreement is expected to include provisions for Korea and the United States to strengthen export controls on AI and to work to reduce regulatory burdens on tech corporations. It will also include measures to more easily store and use data from different geographic locations.
It is also reported to specify goals to improve supply chains in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors, strengthen research security, protect advances in quantum technology, and promote cooperative ties, including in space and 6G technologies.
In particular, attention should be paid to the provision to tighten export controls on AI. This brings Korea into the U.S. effort, pursued for years, to check China's "technology rise." As China's technological capabilities in advanced industries such as AI, space, robotics, electric vehicles, and semiconductors improve, the United States has been strengthening related export controls and regulations. Korea, which counts China as its largest export market, has been significantly affected.
The agreement is in line with those Trump reached during his trip to Japan and with the one concluded with the United Kingdom last month. Ahead of a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping to be held in Busan on the 30th, it is seen as an attempt to build a "science and technology united front" with U.S. allies such as Korea, Japan, and the United Kingdom.