KISTI to build 400-gigabit international research network across Asia-Pacific and Oceania

The Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information said Wednesday it will move forward with building a 400-gigabit international research network to support collaborative AI research across the Asia-Pacific and Oceania regions, leveraging its National Science and Technology Research Network, known as KREONET.

KISTI signed a multilateral MOU with research network organizations from seven countries — South Korea, the United States, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and China — on Tuesday to establish the Asia Pacific Oceania Network, or APOnet. The agreement expands and renews the cooperative framework of APOnet, which launched in 2021.

Member countries plan to interconnect their international research networks at speeds of up to 400 gigabits, enabling large-scale research data transfers between nations and broader shared use of computing resources.

The network will also operate as a mutual backup system to ensure stable service even during outages. Members will collaborate on developing new application services and network technologies needed for international joint research.

APOnet is expected to serve as the backbone for transmitting and sharing vast amounts of data generated by major research facilities, including the Square Kilometre Array — the world's largest radio telescope under construction in Australia — and the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider at CERN.

Through the network, South Korean researchers will be able to quickly access data from large-scale overseas scientific instruments and conduct joint analysis with international teams. Shared use of AI computing resources and large-scale training datasets across countries is also expected to grow.

"The international research network built on APOnet will become a core research infrastructure connecting AI computing resources and large-scale research data at ultra-high speeds," said Cho Bu-seung, head of KISTI's Science and Technology Research Network Center. "Through the 400-gigabit Asia-Pacific KREONET international backbone we are building this year, we will expand cross-border AI infrastructure sharing and mutual network backup based on trusted cooperation between national research networks, creating a stable global research environment."