The Korean Post-Quantum Cryptography (KpqC) competition is South Korea's national PQC standardisation initiative, launched in 2021 by the National Intelligence Service (NIS) with the National Security Research Institute and modelled on the NIST PQC process. The first round opened in November 2022 with 7 KEM and 9 digital-signature candidates, and the second round in December 2023 advanced four of each.
In January 2025 the KpqC secretariat announced the final winners: NTRU+ and SMAUG-T as Key Encapsulation Mechanisms, and AIMer and HAETAE as digital signature algorithms. KpqC outputs feed the Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA) Korean cryptographic standards stack and inform PQC adoption by Korean telcos, semiconductor firms, and government systems.
Quantum Specifications
Quantum Focus
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Application Areas
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Frequently Asked Questions
The Korean Post-Quantum Cryptography (KpqC) competition is South Korea's national PQC standardisation initiative, launched in 2021 by the National Intelligence Service (NIS) with the National Security Research Institute and modelled on the NIST PQC process. The first round opened in November 2022 with 7 KEM and 9 digital-signature candidates, and the second round in December 2023 advanced four of each.
In January 2025 the KpqC secretariat announced the final winners: NTRU+ and SMAUG-T as Key...
Korean Post Quantum Cryptography is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea.
Korean Post Quantum Cryptography was founded in 2021.
Korean Post Quantum Cryptography operates in the following sectors: post quantum cryptography, quantum standards, quantum research.
