– A Bill to Amend the Quantum Technology Industry Act was approved at the Cabinet meeting on May 12.

– The Amendment Bill establishes a comprehensive legal framework spanning from R&D to industrialization, supply chain, security, industry, and defense applications.

– The bill includes support measures addressing new policy demands, including the convergence of quantum and AI and its wider adoption.

The Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister: Bae Kyung-hoon) announced that a bill to amend the Act on the Promotion of Quantum Science and Technology and Quantum Industry (the Amendment Bill) was approved at a Cabinet meeting on May 12.

As global competition for supremacy in quantum technologies intensifies, cooperation and competition among nations are also accelerating to dominate areas including the convergence of quantum technologies with supercomputing and AI, their industrial applications, core materials, components, and equipment, and supply chains. 

In particular, quantum technologies are moving beyond the laboratory-based R&D phase, entering the demonstration and industrialization phases across various domains including computing, communications, sensing, security, and defense. As a result, there is a growing need to build a legal and institutional framework to systematically support this transition.

Against this backdrop, the Amendment Bill focuses on expanding support for quantum technologies from R&D to industrialization, supply chains, security, and industrial and defense applications, while laying a comprehensive institutional framework that covers the full lifecycle of the quantum industry.

The Amendment Bill was proposed by Choi Min-hee, Chairperson of the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee of the National Assembly (the Committee). After deliberation by the Committee and the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, it was passed at a plenary session of the National Assembly on April 23 and approved at the Cabinet meeting on May 12.

1) Establishing a Legal Basis for Supporting the Convergence of Quantum, HPC, and AI: Advancing Leadership in the Next-AI Era

Technologies converging quantum computing, supercomputing, and AI are emerging, accelerating advances across the overall quantum technologies. The Amendment Bill establishes, for the first time, a legal basis for government support in this area.

By combining the computational advantage of quantum with the high-speed processing and learning and reasoning capabilities of HPC (High-performance Computing) and AI technologies, this next-generation convergence field is expected to deliver breakthroughs in areas such as drug development, materials design, and optimization problems that have long been difficult to address using conventional technologies.

The Amendment Bill enables systematic support for R&D, demonstration, and talent development related to quantum-AI technologies. It also requires the Quantum Master Plan to include measures for promoting the use of quantum-AI technologies, and ensuring safety and reliability.

2) Nurturing the Quantum Industry with Phase-by-Phase Support: From Lab to Market

The Amendment Bill covers timely policies to nurture the quantum industry given that quantum technologies are moving beyond the laboratory into the market. According to the bill, if researchers or companies face legal barriers in the course of developing and commercializing quantum technologies and products, they can request the government to improve relevant regulations, and the government is required to take appropriate actions such as refining relevant laws and regulations and granting regulatory exemptions.

The Amendment Bill also lays a legal basis for supporting projects to identify and respond to vulnerabilities in the supply chain for core materials, components, and equipment; secure self-reliance and resilience of the domestic supply chain; and carry out cooperation and standardization in the international supply chain. In addition, it complements the legal grounds for designating industry-academia quantum clusters by specifying location requirements to consider when designating a quantum cluster (e.g., transportation networks, infrastructure, and connectivity).

Furthermore, the Amendment Bill introduces a special exemption from liability for proactive administration, under which public officials shall be exempt from liability for minor negligence arising in the course of carrying out unprecedented administrative tasks such as promoting the commercialization of quantum technologies and improving relevant regulations. This measure is intended to provide institutional support for a more proactive and bold approach to public administration.

3) Requiring the Establishment of a Quantum Security System: To Proactively Respond to Future Security Threats

Recently, there are growing concerns over threats such as AI-driven hacking using tools such as Mythos, and, in the long-term, cryptographic systems being compromised by future quantum computers. In order to proactively respond to such threats, the Amendment Bill mandates the establishment of a quantum security system.

Accordingly, central and local governments, public institutions, and other relevant organizations will be required to develop and implement plans to secure and deploy quantum security technologies including Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) * and Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) **. These measures are expected to serve as a national-level defense system against quantum threats that are becoming a reality.

* An encryption method based on math problems that would be difficult for quantum computers to solve.

** A technology that uses the unique properties of quantum mechanics to prevent eavesdropping and hacking at the source.

4) Applying Quantum Technologies to the Defense Sector: Pioneering Real-world Use Cases

As quantum technologies emerge as critical assets for national security, the Amendment Bill adds a legal basis for their application to the defense sector. In particular, it enables MSIT to work with the Ministry of National Defense and other relevant agencies to develop and demonstrate quantum technologies across military communications, cryptography, sensing, and navigation, including eavesdropping-proof military communications, stealth-detecting quantum radar, and GPS-free quantum navigation systems.

5) Mandating Impact Assessments for Quantum Technology Projects: Ensuring Responsible and Safe Use

While promoting the applications of quantum technologies in industry and national defense, the Amendment Bill also introduces regulations to proactively manage potential risks that may arise in the course of using such technologies. In particular, it requires impact assessments to be conducted before projects using quantum technologies are carried out in the areas that may have a significant impact on national security or the daily lives of citizens, including space, defense, communications, energy, finance, and transportation.

This is expected to ensure the responsible and safe use of quantum technologies by proactively identifying and managing risks of security, safety, and reliability that may arise in the course of applying quantum technologies to critical national infrastructure.

Following the approval of the Amendment Bill at the Cabinet meeting, MSIT plans to establish subordinate legislation, including enforcement decrees and enforcement rules, and specify detailed operational standards for each measure. These will specifically stipulate projects subject to impact assessments and their procedures and standards, details about the establishment of a quantum security system, and requirements and procedures for designating organizations responsible for the supply chains of quantum AI and core materials, components, and equipment supply chains.

In the meantime, MSIT will gather broad input from relevant ministries, industry, academia, and civil society to incorporate them into the subordinate legislation. The ministry intends to ensure everything is in place so that the law (which takes effect six month after promulgation) and the new regulations can be smoothly implemented on the ground.

“Quantum is a core strategic technology that helps overcome the limitations of conventional technologies in terms of power consumption and computational performance, and has the potential to drive AI innovation to the next level,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Bae. “The Korean government will strengthen policy support throughout the full lifecycle of quantum spanning R&D, industrialization, security, and applications in key industries to ensure that Korea leads the Next-AI era.”