The Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) is expanding its support for the pilot transition to Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) across the nation’s major infrastructure. Based on the experience and achievements gained from last year’s pilot transition in three major areas (healthcare, energy, and administration), the scope of support will be expanded this year to a total of five core sectors: telecommunications, finance, transportation, national defense, and space. Additionally, a new commercialization Research and Development (R&D) project will be launched to support a swift and secure transition of the national cryptographic system to post-quantum cryptography.
Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) refers to a next-generation cryptographic technology that utilizes complex mathematical structures (such as lattice-based or hash-based structures) compared to currently used public-key cryptographic algorithms (such as prime factorization and discrete logarithms), making it difficult to decrypt even with quantum computers.
The MSIT has been supporting the paradigm shift of the national cryptographic system in accordance with ▲National Agenda 23-4 (Building a Solid Digital Security and Safety System to Support the AI Era) ▲Pan-National Post-Quantum Cryptography Transition Master Plan (July 2023) ▲Comprehensive Pan-National Plan for Transition to Post-Quantum Cryptographic Systems (Sept. 2025) ▲Comprehensive Cross-Ministerial Information Security Measures (Oct. 2025) ▲The 1st Comprehensive Plan for Fostering Quantum Science Technology and Quantum Industry (Jan. 2026), and other related initiatives.
This pilot transition support and technology development project are also being promoted as part of these relevant plans and measures. In the case of the pilot transition support project, the objective is to derive pilot models by applying PQC to actual major national infrastructure, analyzing the technical problems that arise and their solutions, and establishing transition procedures. Furthermore, going beyond simple pilot applications, the technology development project aims to secure core technologies that encompass the entire process—from automatically identifying vast vulnerable cryptographic assets within systems to swift cryptographic system transition, operation, and stability verification.
The major details of each project are as follows:
■ Pilot Transition Project… Dream Security and Others Selected
The MSIT, together with the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA), will expand the scope of support this year to a total of five core sectors—telecommunications, finance, transportation, national defense, and space—based on the experience and achievements from the pilot transition carried out last year in three major areas (healthcare, energy, and administration). Following the public bidding and evaluation of operators conducted since early this year, the Dream Security for telecommunications, the Ksmartech for finance, the MobilWithUs for transportation, the DYSTEC for national defense, and the KSIGN for space were finally selected.
▲ Telecommunications Sector: The Dream Security will apply PQC to the ‘Korea Research Environment Open NETwork (KREONET),’ operated by the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information. To strengthen the security of large-scale national research data transmitted and received by approximately 200 research institutions in Korea, they will promote PQC transition demonstration, focusing on core telecommunications sections such as the backbone network.
▲ Finance Sector: The Ksmartech will conduct a pilot transition of Hana Card’s overall ‘card payment infrastructure’ into a PQC system. They plan to apply PQC across all sections of payment data processing, including the communication section between customer terminals and servers, and focus on verifying performance in actual service environments as well as interoperability with existing systems.
▲ Transportation Sector: The MobilWithUs will introduce PQC on a pilot basis to the ‘Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems’ infrastructure operated by Gyeonggi Province and the Korea Road Traffic Authority in Pangyo Zero City. They plan to strengthen the security of the real-time communication environment between vehicles and road infrastructure, while demonstrating the integrity of traffic information and communication safety, which are core elements of autonomous driving.
▲ National Defense Sector: The DYSTEC will perform a pilot PQC transition for the Ministry of National Defense’s ‘Smart Unit Integrated Platform.’ By promoting end-to-end (E2E) encryption from terminals such as drones to servers, they intend to verify safety in national defense-specialized environments where strict security standards apply, as well as operational feasibility in operational environments.
▲ Space Sector: KSIGN will conduct a pilot transition of Contec’s satellite communication infrastructure cryptographic system into a PQC system. They plan to apply PQC to the communication sections between satellites, ground stations, and control systems, and secure operational technologies optimized for the specificities of the space environment and satellite networks.
■ Technology Development… 4 Entities Selected Including KSIGN and ETRI
The MSIT, together with the Institute of Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation (IITP), will fully launch a pan-national PQC transition core technology development (R&D) project for a total of five years from this year until 2030. This year, four new tasks in the areas of transition, verification, and foundational technology will be initiated.
▲ PQC Autonomous Transition and Integrated Management Platform: Currently, PQC transitions for companies and organizations are conducted manually by personnel for each system, resulting in slow transition times and a high risk of errors. In response, KSIGN will build a ‘DevOps-based Autonomous Transition Open Platform’ that comprehensively manages everything from cryptographic asset detection to automatic transition and operational monitoring.
▲ Ultra-Lightweight HW-Optimized PQC Technology: To apply PQC, which requires high-specification operations, even to IC chips with limited memory capacity, such as credit cards and passports, the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) will develop optimization technology capable of real-time operation even in ultra-low-specification environments.
▲ PQC Cryptographic Module Implementation Conformance Verification Technology: Safety cannot be guaranteed without a system to inspect whether PQC-based cryptographic modules are manufactured accurately according to standards. Accordingly, the National Security Research Institute will develop technologies for the accuracy and safety evaluation of PQC implementations to introduce PQC into the Korea Cryptographic Module Validation Program (KCMVP).
▲ Foundational Technology Combining PQC-QKD: Maximizing security is expected by combining software-based, highly scalable PQC with Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), which guarantees fundamental physical safety. The Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology will implement a hybrid security system that combines PQC and QKD in a parallel mode, and verify its performance and safety.
Jeong-gyu Lim, Director General of the Cyber Security and Network Policy Bureau at the MSIT, emphasized, “The advancement of AI and quantum technology is presenting itself as a significant cybersecurity threat to cryptographic systems. Quantum security is no longer an option, but an essential core task to protect national security and the daily lives of citizens.” He further expressed, “Through this pilot transition targeting five major sectors, we will secure PQC transition references, and by completing entire-lifecycle technology independence for PQC by 2030, we will elevate the Republic of Korea into a world-class ‘quantum security powerhouse.'”