KT (030200.KS) said on the 16th that it has opened Korea's first single dedicated international line running at 400 gigabits per second between South Korea and the United States, together with the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI). With demand for cross-border research data exchange rising sharply in fields such as artificial intelligence and astronomy, Korea has secured the infrastructure to operate an ultra-high-speed, ultra-high-capacity research network.
The line serves as the international backbone of the National Science and Technology Research Network operated by KISTI, connecting the institute's headquarters in Daejeon with Chicago, a hub for North American and European research networks. The move quadruples the bandwidth of the research network on the Korea-U.S. route. Large volumes of data needed for global joint research can now be handled more reliably, and researchers can transfer ultra-large data sets without concerns over latency or bandwidth limits.
KT and KISTI completed construction and stability testing on the submarine cable segment, establishing a stable connection through to Chicago. The project added research network capacity to a submarine cable that links Korea and the United States directly without transit points, minimizing international latency and transit risk. The companies also support stable operation of the international research network using infrastructure that includes multiple submarine cables and redundant cable landing stations. "More than 95% of international data traffic travels over submarine cables, so KT's end-to-end operating system spanning submarine cables, landing stations and global networks is a core competitive strength that underpins the stability of key national infrastructure such as research networks," KT said.
KT plans to keep strengthening its international network capabilities beyond this expansion. The company currently operates five submarine cable systems, including three in Asia and two in North America, accounting for more than half of the submarine cables operated in Korea. It plans to expand submarine cable capacity and diversify landing stations in stages to broaden the base for stable global data exchange by companies and research institutions at home and abroad.
"Building Korea's first 400G Korea-U.S. national research network is an important milestone that raises the competitiveness of the country's research and development infrastructure," said Jeon Myung-jun, an executive at KT. "Drawing on our international submarine cable and global backbone operations, KT will work with KISTI to keep supporting the global competitiveness of the national research network and digital innovation."
