The Science Ministry said Friday that IT sector policymakers from South Korea and China have signed a pact to foster closer cooperation on high-end mobile technologies.

In China on Thursday, Vice Science Minister Yoon Jong-rok and a group of industry leaders from SK Telecom, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics signed a memorandum of understanding with the Asian superpower’s 5G promotion group to better coordinate in developing 5G network technologies.

The Chinese representatives included members of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China Academy of Telecommunication Research, China Mobile and Huawei, the ministry said.

The MOU specified that the two countries would cooperate in the areas of 5G technology development, standardization strategy and frequency research and development. Within a few years, the global competition for 5G technologies is expected to become fierce, experts said.

A 5G network could provide 1,000 times faster connection speeds than the average Long Term Evolution service.

In order to better fight increasing cyber attacks, Korea Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Center ― a branch of the science ministry ― also signed an MOU with its counterpart.

Vice Minister Yoon’s visit this time following Minister Choi Mun-kee’s visit to China last month indicates that Korea considers the world’s most populous country as a vital strategic partner in future development of information and communications technology sectors, the ministry added.

By Kwon Bum-joon (bjkwon@heraldcorp.com)