Korea Is Betting Big on Quantum: 20 Qubits Today, 1,000 by the 2030s
From a July keynote at Seoul's Dongdaemun Design Plaza to a 200-trillion-won national R&D plan, here is how South Korea wants to go from tenth place to fourth in the quantum race.
When a government minister says out loud that "quantum comes after AI," you can read it two ways: as a slogan, or as a budget line. In Korea's case, it looks like both.
At Quantum Korea 2026, held July 2 at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul, Deputy Prime Minister and Science Minister Bae Kyung-hoon argued that today's AI needs enormous amounts of money and electricity and will eventually hit limits, and that quantum technology in computing, sensing and encryption is the next growth engine. The question for anyone watching Korean tech: does the country actually have the hardware, the people and the money to compete? Let's look at what has been reported.
The Big Picture: Quantum Joins Korea's "Mega Projects"
In the minister's framing, quantum now sits beside semiconductors, physical AI and AI data centers as a pillar of national strategy. That is a significant promotion for a field that, a few years ago, was mostly a university lab story.
The policy backbone is the Sixth Basic Plan for Science and Technology (2026–2030). It commits more than 200 trillion won, about $128.8 billion, to public R&D, with 60 trillion won targeted at 55 core technology areas. Quantum is one of ten designated strategic technology fields, covering computing, secure quantum communications and sensing. The same plan talks about securing 260,000 GPUs for national AI infrastructure and sets 2030 as the target for commercial 6G, which shows how quantum is being pitched as a partner to AI, not a replacement.
The Hardware Reality Check
Numbers matter more than speeches here. According to reporting compiled by Seoulz, the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) has demonstrated a 20-qubit superconducting processor, with a domestic target of 50 qubits in 2026 and a goal of 1,000-qubit superconducting systems in the early 2030s. For context, leading global players already run systems with far more physical qubits, so Korea is clearly in catch-up mode on raw scale.
That is where partnerships come in. In December 2025, IonQ's 100-qubit Tempo system was reportedly deployed at KISTI in Daejeon, alongside the national supercomputer, to support hybrid quantum-classical research. And Korean companies are placing their own bets:
SK Telecom
Reportedly swapped its stake in ID Quantique for roughly $250 million in IonQ shares in February 2025, a signal that it sees quantum communications and computing as one story.
LG Electronics
Has joined the IBM Quantum Network and is reported to be partnering with Pasqal.
Samsung and Hyundai
Samsung is developing a post-quantum cryptography algorithm called AIMer, while Hyundai Motor is using quantum simulation for EV battery and hydrogen fuel cell research. Neither is building a quantum computer. Both are preparing to use one.
A Timeline You Can Skim
People Are the Real Bottleneck
You cannot buy your way past a talent shortage. Reports cite roughly 500 doctoral-level quantum researchers in Korea in 2024, with a target of 2,500 by 2035 plus 10,000 bachelor's and master's-level professionals. The plan also reportedly sends about 500 Korean quantum experts abroad every year, which is a polite way of saying "go learn from the best, then come back."
For international readers, there is an opening here too. KAIST, Korea University and POSTECH are reported to offer English-taught graduate programs with scholarships, and KISTI's hybrid platform is accessible through a cloud gateway.
Honest Risks
Three caveats are worth keeping in mind. First, qubit counts are not a clean ranking: error rates and connectivity matter as much as raw numbers. Second, a 1,000-qubit target for the early 2030s is ambitious, and plans of this kind often slip. Third, several figures above come from secondary reporting, so treat them as reported rather than audited. Check official ministry statements before quoting them.
- Korea now ranks quantum alongside semiconductors and AI as a national strategic pillar.
- The hardware is small today (20 qubits) but the targets are bold: 50 in 2026, 1,000 in the early 2030s.
- Talent and software, not just machines, will decide whether the 10th-to-4th climb is realistic.
Where This Leaves Us
Korea has rarely won by being first. It wins by building the supply chain, scaling it hard and pulling industry along. Whether that formula works for quantum is the most interesting open question in Korean tech right now.
Your turn: do you think Korea can reach fourth place by 2035, or is the gap with the United States too wide? Drop your prediction in the comments.