In November 2022, South Korea’s National Security Research Institute (NSR) and the National Intelligence Service (NIS) launched Round 1 of the Korean Post-Quantum Cryptography (KpqC) competition. The initiative, established in 2021 as a research group, sought to select domestic PQC algorithms for Korean national and commercial standards, parallel to but distinct from NIST’s global PQC standardization process.
According to the KpqC competition website, Round 1 began with 16 candidate algorithms: 7 key encapsulation mechanisms (KEMs) and 9 digital signature schemes. Candidates included lattice-based, code-based, hash-based, multivariate, and zero-knowledge-based constructions. The competition reflected South Korea’s decision to develop sovereign cryptographic standards alongside NIST selections, ensuring indigenous options for the country’s post-quantum migration.