The Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI) has officially launched the upgraded Daejeon-Chicago international backbone network, quadrupling the speed of the Korea Research Environment Open NETwork (KREONET) from 100Gbps to 400Gbps. This milestone marks a monumental leap forward in South Korea's capacity to handle petabyte-scale research data, reinforcing the nation's position in global scientific collaboration, artificial intelligence (AI), and digital sovereignty.

As global scientific research increasingly relies on massive data-intensive domains such as astronomy, space exploration, high-energy physics, and advanced biotechnology, the demand for high-speed, ultra-reliable network infrastructure has surged. Major scientific nations in North America and Europe have been progressively transitioning their global research networks to single-wavelength 400Gbps systems. Recognizing this global trend, KISTI leveraged submarine cable routes—including those provided by KT—to build a state-of-the-art international dedicated circuit connecting Daejeon, South Korea, and Chicago, USA, which serves as a central hub linking major research networks worldwide.

With this deployment, the theoretical maximum data transmission capacity has dramatically jumped from 12.5 gigabytes per second (GB/s) to 50 GB/s. To put this into perspective, transferring a massive 100-terabyte (TB) research dataset previously took 2 hours and 13 minutes under the former 100Gbps environment. In the newly established 400Gbps environment, that same transfer is completed in approximately 33 minutes. This unprecedented reduction in transfer time allows domestic researchers to seamlessly access, analyze, and utilize massive datasets and high-performance supercomputing resources produced by major research facilities across North America without encountering network bottlenecks. 

Experts emphasize that this upgrade transcends a simple incremental expansion of network bandwidth. Cho Boo-seung, head of the KREONET Center at KISTI, noted that the initiative elevates South Korea's national research infrastructure to world-class standards. He further stated that KISTI plans to continue upgrading international routes, including upcoming enhancements to the Korea-Europe network corridor, to ensure that the research network acts as a core strategic asset for securing future AI and data sovereignty. Moving forward, this high-performance infrastructure is expected to catalyze breakthroughs in collaborative global research and solidify South Korea's status as a powerhouse in data-driven scientific innovation.

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