In the era of digital transformation driven by the Fourth Industrial Revolution, KREONET aims to evolve into a globally leading national science and technology research network that contributes to scientific innovation and groundbreaking discoveries, particularly in response to the paradigm shift toward large-scale, data-driven research.
Since its launch in 1988, the research network project has continuously advanced through a series of national initiatives, including Korea’s first TCP/IP-based internet service, the Research Computing Network Project, the National Grid Network, GLORIAD, KRLight, KREONET-S, and the Quantum Cryptography Communication Project.
Today, KREONET operates a 200 Gbps-class research backbone and serves as an essential infrastructure for data-intensive scientific research and innovation.
As a key enabler in the convergence of data, networking, and AI—the pillars of the Fourth Industrial Revolution—KREONET is taking bold steps to integrate AI-driven intelligence into national research infrastructure to accelerate discovery and innovation.
KREONET has played a vital role in enabling scientific milestones such as the discovery of the Higgs boson (2013), the detection of gravitational waves (2017), and the first imaging of the M87 black hole (2019). Looking ahead, we aim to continue supporting grand scientific challenges in fields including high-energy physics, climate and weather modeling, nuclear fusion, biotechnology, next-generation radio astronomy, and the redefinition of fundamental physical constants.
To meet these demands, KREONET is expanding into a tera-scale infrastructure capable of 400 Gbps per lambda transmission, strengthening institutional connectivity, deploying secure quantum cryptography services, and building a collaborative national supercomputing network.
We will continue to grow alongside the research community and remain committed to our users—advancing together toward a smarter, more connected scientific future.
Buseung Cho
Director, KREONET Center
Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI)