Korean Investment in Quantum Computing, and the Five Machines It Has Bought

South Korea’s headline quantum target of ₩3 trillion is a floor for public and private money combined, and the private part runs only to 2027. The state’s dedicated quantum budget rose from ₩10.6 billion in 2019 to ₩198 billion in 2025, and Korean buyers have ordered five quantum computers without one price made public. Korean investment in quantum computing is easier to measure by its yearly budgets than by its headline target. The figure most often quoted is ₩3 trillion by 2035. That is a floor for public and private money together, set by the government in 2023, and the private part of it is pledged only as far as 2027. The yearly budget is firmer ground. Its dedicated quantum programmes received ₩198 billion in 2025, about $148 million at today’s exchange rate. The money has bought real machines. Yonsei University runs an IBM system and Chungbuk National University runs one from IQM, while the state computing institute KISTI is installing a 100-qubit machine from IonQ. Two Korean companies have bought machines too. None of the buyers or sellers has said what any of the five cost, which leaves the price of quantum hardware in Korea a matter of guesswork.…