Agreement on sharing science and technology policy reached at the 4th Joint Committee meeting
Hydrogen refueling station demonstration study, rare earth smelting and
Establishing a foundation for cooperation in bio-convergence, IoT, etc.


South Korea and Australia have agreed to cooperate on the hydrogen economy, rare earth smelting, and the development of battery-free IoT sensors.

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 27th that it held the '4th Korea-Australia Joint Committee on Science and Technology' with the Australian Department for Industry, Innovation and Science in Canberra, Australia.

At this joint science and technology committee meeting, Song Kyung-hee, Director General for International Cooperation at the Ministry of Science and ICT, served as the chief representative for the Korean side, and Gino Grassia, Director General for Science Policy at the Department for Industry, Innovation and Science, Australia, served as the chief representative for the Australian side. A total of about 20 people, including science and technology officials from industry, academia, and research institutes in both countries, attended.

At the 4th Joint Committee meeting held based on the 'Korea-Australia Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement' concluded in September 1999, the two countries shared science and technology innovation policies and laid the foundation for cooperation in the fields of hydrogen charging station demonstration research, rare earth elements, bio-convergence, and IoT.

Regarding hydrogen refueling stations that separate, produce, store, and refuel hydrogen from LNG/LPG, the two countries agreed to cooperate in demonstrating core technologies and promoting commercialization through joint research, and a joint workshop involving experts and companies to identify cooperation needs for hydrogen refueling stations between the two countries is being held in Melbourne for two days from September 30 to October 1.

Regarding research on rare earth smelting processes, such as monazite, it was agreed to further discuss specific cooperation plans for joint research based on our technology for efficiently recovering and utilizing radioactive elements, such as thorium, generated during the process.

We also agreed to cooperate on applying and verifying the research on the development of a metamaterial-based ultra-high-resolution imaging platform, which we are currently leading in a joint study with Australia, to areas requiring real-time nano-scale observation such as disease treatment and animal and plant research in both countries.

Plans were discussed to demonstrate and commercialize IoT-based high-sensitivity sensing sensors capable of autonomous, independent operation without batteries, in collaboration with the University of New South Wales in Australia and other partners currently conducting joint research.

At this Joint Committee meeting on Science and Technology, both countries shared the need to strengthen technological cooperation in response to the rapid changes of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and [discussed] 10 key technology fields including the hydrogen economy, rare earth elements, and AI.They discussed implementation plans for the Tech-Bridge (proposed by Australia) and agreed to hold Korea-Australia Science Day (proposed by Korea).

Song Kyung-hee, Director of International Cooperation at the Ministry of Science and ICT, stated, "We will continue to build cooperative relationships by identifying and expanding joint projects that can produce results in areas such as hydrogen generation, storage, and transportation, biotechnology, and rare earth technology."