EKC2026

Distinguished scientists and engineers from Korea and across Europe, and honoured guests, It is my great privilege to welcome you to the 2026 Europe-Korea Conference on Science and Technology (EKC 2026). Let me first express my sincere gratitude to President Lee, Jong-Wook and the members of the Association des Scientifiques Coréens en France — the Association of Korean Scientists and Engineers in France (ASCoF) — together with the presidents of the eight fellow Korean science and engineering associations across Europe, whose dedication has made this gathering possible. I offer ASCoF my warmest congratulations on its 50th anniversary this year. Half a century after the late Dr. Min Sun-shik founded the Association in 1976, it stands as a steadfast bridge for scientific and technological exchange between Korea and Europe, and I hold its devotion in the highest regard. Toulouse, where we are gathered, is often called the beating heart of European aerospace. Here, Airbus and world-renowned research institutions have turned humanity's boldest ambitions into reality. It is also a city of romance and daring — the city from which Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, aviator and author of The Little Prince, once carried the airmail aloft. That we should now gather in this city, where seemingly impossible dreams have so often been made real through research and cooperation, to chart the future together is, to me, a source of profound meaning. First convened in Heidelberg, Germany, in 2008, EKC reaches its 18th edition this year. Throughout, it has been a treasured forum in which the scientists and engineers of Korea and Europe share their achievements and seek out new possibilities for collaboration. The bonds first forged here have grown into countless joint studies and innovations, contributing meaningfully to the advancement of science and technology in both Korea and Europe. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Korea-EU Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation. Of particular note, Korea last year became the first nation in Asia to join Horizon Europe as an associate member — the hard-won fruit of cooperation patiently cultivated over many years. Fittingly, this conference opens little more than a year after that accession. The theme of this year's conference is "AI-Driven Future of Science and Technology.“ Artificial intelligence is already transforming, at a fundamental level, the methods and pace of research and the very structure of industry. Yet the more AI quickens our inquiry, the more it falls to us, as scientists and engineers, never to lose sight of the essential questions — where our technology ought to be directed, and why a given problem is worth solving at all. Saint-Exupéry wrote, in Citadelle: "L'avenir, tu n'as point à le prévoir mais à le permettre" — the future is not ours to foresee, but ours to make possible. So it is with the future of this AI age: it is not an object to be precisely predicted, but a possibility we must bring into being together, through responsible questions and shared endeavour. At the very heart of these achievements have stood you — the Korean scientists and engineers who have devoted yourselves to research in laboratories around the world, and across Europe in particular. Herein lies the meaning of the new vision that KOFST, in its 60th-anniversary year, has adopted: "Innovation through Resonance." When research that first sounds in separate places comes to resonate together across borders, a greater innovation is born — and you are the strongest link in that resonance. May this EKC be more than an occasion for sharing results; may it become yet another point of departure from which Korea and Europe advance together toward new joint research and innovation. Just as so many of humanity's dreams have risen into the skies above Toulouse, may a new endeavour take wing from our meeting here. May our time together become a source of deep inspiration and of bonds that endure. Thank you. Kwon, Oh Nam President of the Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies (KOFST)