KT Corporation — vendor dossier

KT Corporation

NetworkingQKD
K

South Korea's incumbent fixed-line and second-largest mobile carrier (KOSPI:030200, NYSE:KT). KT operates a commercial Quantum-Safe Network service on its Korean fibre footprint, using QKD endpoints sourced from ID Quantique and (in pilot) Toshiba; the public reference deployments are the Seoul-Daejeon QKD-as-a-Service testbed (Toshiba) and the ~490 km Seoul-Busan hybrid QKD trunk. KT is the lead Korean contributor to ITU-T SG13 / SG17 QKD-network standardisation and chairs SG13 WP1; the company describes itself as the holder of the most QKD-network-related international standard approvals.

HQ
Seoul, South Korea
Founded
1981
Status
public
Last verified
Wed May 20 2026 08:00:00 GMT+0800 (Singapore Standard Time)

Timeline

20222023202420252026202720282029today
2022-02
ITU-T approves KT-led QKD-network QoS evaluation-criteria standard — which KT described as the first international standard for QKD-network QoS
2022-03
KT and Toshiba announce two-project QKD pilot in South Korea — Seoul-Busan ~490 km hybrid QKD network (first application of an ITU-T QoS standard) and a Seoul-Daejeon QKD-as-a-Service testbed
2025-06
KT and HEQA Security announce partnership to deploy QKD across KT's telecom infrastructure; demonstrated at Quantum Korea 2025
2026
Continued commercial expansion of the Quantum-Safe Network service across KT's fibre footprint; further ITU-T QKD-network standardisation contributions
Founded 1981 shipped milestone public roadmap

Current flagship

KT Quantum-Safe Network — Commercial QKD-secured fibre service for Korean government and enterprise customers; multi-vendor (ID Quantique + Toshiba endpoints) operated by KT

Milestones

  1. 2025-06
    KT and HEQA Security announce partnership to deploy QKD across KT's telecom infrastructure; demonstrated at Quantum Korea 2025
    QKD press source ↗
  2. 2022-03
    KT and Toshiba announce two-project QKD pilot in South Korea — Seoul-Busan ~490 km hybrid QKD network (first application of an ITU-T QoS standard) and a Seoul-Daejeon QKD-as-a-Service testbed
    QKD press source ↗
  3. 2022-02
    ITU-T approves KT-led QKD-network QoS evaluation-criteria standard — which KT described as the first international standard for QKD-network QoS
    QKD press source ↗

Roadmap

  • 2026 Continued commercial expansion of the Quantum-Safe Network service across KT's fibre footprint; further ITU-T QKD-network standardisation contributions source ↗

Capability details

QKD

Protocols
BB84, decoy-state, T12
Rate vs distance
Seoul-Busan ~490 km hybrid QKD trunk (KT + Toshiba); Seoul-Daejeon QKDaaS testbed operated 2022-2024

Networking

Role
operator
Products
Quantum-Safe Network service for Korean government and enterprise customers
5 unverified fields
  • modalities.qkd.deployed_demos — Specific key rates and per-link distances on the Seoul-Busan trunk and Seoul-Daejeon testbed are not consistently disclosed in English-language sources; entries restricted to corroborated facts.
  • shareholders — Per-holder percentages not pulled from KT's latest annual report for this dossier; KT has a widely-held float with NPS, Hyundai Motor Group, and major asset managers among the top institutional holders.
  • revenue
  • headcount
  • business_units."KT Quantum Network business".lead — Current head of KT's quantum-network unit is not separately named on KT's public English-language pages.

People

  • Park Yoon-Young — President & CEO (since Tue Mar 31 2026 08:00:00 GMT+0800 (Singapore Standard Time)) ↗
  • Kim Young-shub — Former President & CEO (since 2023-08) ↗

References