Hong Won-hwa, chairman of the National Research Foundation of Korea, delivers an opening address at the 2026 US-Korea Conference on Science, Technology and Entrepreneurship held at the Omni Orlando Resort in Orlando, Florida, on Wednesday (local time). [National Research Foundation of Korea]
Hong Won-hwa, chairman of the National Research Foundation of Korea, delivers an opening address at the 2026 US-Korea Conference on Science, Technology and Entrepreneurship held at the Omni Orlando Resort in Orlando, Florida, on Wednesday (local time). [National Research Foundation of Korea]

South Korea and the United States are expanding their research and development cooperation by linking their respective regional innovation programs.

The National Research Foundation of Korea said it attended the 2026 US-Korea Conference on Science, Technology and Entrepreneurship, known as UKC, held in Orlando, Florida, from Aug. 5 to Aug. 8, where it discussed ways to strengthen bilateral R&D and regional innovation cooperation.

Held under the theme "From Imagination to Innovation: Into Reality," the conference drew about 1,000 participants, including members of the Korean-American Scientists and Engineers Association, the Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies and the Korea-US Science Cooperation Center, along with researchers, university representatives and research support officials from both countries.

NRF Chairman Hong Won-hwa delivered a welcoming address at the opening ceremony, encouraging Korean-American scientists for their contributions to bilateral science and technology cooperation and outlining South Korea's science and technology innovation strategy.

Hong highlighted the "K-Moonshot" program, which aims to harness AI and science and technology to tackle national challenges and drive innovation. The government finalized eight fields and 12 national missions under the K-Moonshot project through the fifth Science and Technology Ministers' Meeting in March.

The conference featured an "NRF ANCHOR–NSF RIE" session exploring potential cooperation between the two countries' flagship regional innovation programs.

The NRF organized the session to bring together representatives from South Korea's ANCHOR — a regional talent development initiative — and the US National Science Foundation's Regional Innovation Engines program, allowing both sides to share regional innovation cases and discuss future directions.

The ANCHOR program is a government-led initiative in which local authorities support universities and nurture talent in alignment with regional employment strategies, fostering co-growth among local governments, industry, academia and research institutions. The NSF's RIE, by contrast, expands R&D investment through cooperation among local governments, industry and academia, with the goal of developing regions into technology-driven economic hubs. The NSF has committed $1.6 billion over 10 years beginning in 2022 to support the building of regional innovation ecosystems.

The session grew out of an NRF visit to the NSF last year and was organized as part of efforts to link the two countries' comparable regional innovation programs.

Hong Won-hwa, chairman of the National Research Foundation of Korea (ninth from right), poses for a group photo after presenting scholarships to 20 outstanding Korean and Korean-American graduate students in science and engineering in the United States at the 2026 US-Korea Conference on Science, Technology and Entrepreneurship, held at the Omni Orlando Resort in Orlando, Florida, on Thursday (local time). [National Research Foundation of Korea]
Hong Won-hwa, chairman of the National Research Foundation of Korea (ninth from right), poses for a group photo after presenting scholarships to 20 outstanding Korean and Korean-American graduate students in science and engineering in the United States at the 2026 US-Korea Conference on Science, Technology and Entrepreneurship, held at the Omni Orlando Resort in Orlando, Florida, on Thursday (local time). [National Research Foundation of Korea]

On the South Korean side, ANCHOR consortiums from Kyungpook National University and Hanseo University — covering semiconductor and aerospace fields — took part, while BRIDG, a Florida-based semiconductor innovation organization, represented the US side. The two sides shared cases of region-based semiconductor technology development and discussed ways to cooperate on R&D, talent development and industry linkages.

The NRF is also pursuing future research cooperation combining quantum technology with AI.

Through an NRF quantum-AI workshop held at the conference, the foundation introduced South Korea's quantum technology policies and R&D programs and shared with US researchers the direction of new research initiatives in the quantum-AI convergence field.

Efforts to attract top research talent in the United States ran alongside the other activities. Hong, in his capacity as chairman of KUSCO, presented scholarships to 20 outstanding Korean-American graduate students and held a roundtable discussion with them.

"Linking and cooperation between the NRF ANCHOR consortiums and the NSF RIE program, which share the common goal of regional innovation, can in the long run promote regional innovation and mutual development in both countries," Hong said. "We will support the expansion of exchanges between researchers and institutions in strategic technology fields — including semiconductors, aerospace, and quantum-AI — and work to translate them into substantive joint research cooperation."


nbgkoo@heraldcorp.com