Professor Yoo Il Sun of the Department of Information Security, Cryptography and Mathematics at Kookmin University (President Jeong Seung Ryul) received the ‘2025 Meritorious Service in Information and Communications Technology Research and Development’ commendation from the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT on December 31. This commendation recognizes his pioneering contributions in the fields of 5G security and PQC (Post-Quantum Cryptography) migration.

Professor Yoo Il Sun founded the 6G Security Research Group (formerly the 5G Security Research Group) of the Korea Institute of Information Security & Cryptology in 2018 and has served as its chairperson to date. He also serves as the Technical Subcommittee Chair for the Ministry of Science and ICT's 5G Security Council (2019–present) and the Subcommittee Chair for the Digital New Technology Security Enhancement Research Group (2025–present), providing policy direction and technical benchmarks for domestic 5G specialized networks and next-generation 6G security.

Furthermore, since 2018, he has successfully organized the ‘5G Security Workshop’ a total of eight times, substantially supporting the advancement of domestic 5G/6G security technology. He has faithfully fulfilled a pivotal role as a key bridgehead, leading the expansion of the mobile communication security base and the revitalization of the ecosystem.

He is also leading standardization and the development of the academic ecosystem on the international stage beyond Korea. Elected as Chair of the IEEE 6G-IoT Quantum Security Standardization Subcommittee (P3751), it is directing the development of standards for ‘embedded 6G quantum security’. As Chair of the E-Business Information Systems Subcommittee (WG 8.4) under the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP), which involves over 100 countries worldwide, it is presenting a vision for the convergence of E-Business and quantum security. Furthermore, he successfully founded and has led the Mobile Internet Security International Conference (MobiSec) for nine consecutive years. He also launched the flagship event of IFIP WG 8.4, the ‘International Symposium on E-Business Information Systems Innovation (EBISION)’. Additionally, serving as an associate editor for prestigious SCIE journals such as Information Sciences, Alexandria Engineering Journal, and ICT Express, he has significantly contributed to expanding global academic infrastructure and networks.

His research achievements are equally outstanding. He pioneered the integration of PQC (quantum-resistant cryptography)-based 5G-AKA/EAP-AKA into commercial 5G specialized networks in Korea, setting the direction for 6G quantum security technology. Over the past five years, he has successfully completed 18 national research projects across all fields of mobile communication security. Since 2000, he has published over 200 SCIE papers, achieving an H-index of 59 and a total of 11,000 citations according to Google Scholar. Recognized for these accomplishments, he has been listed among the ‘Top 2% Scientists in the World’ by Stanford University and Elsevier for five consecutive years.

Professor Yoo Il Sun stated, “This award is not solely mine but a collective achievement with my fellow professors and lab students who have worked on collaborative projects.” He added, “As we face the critical transition from 5G to 6G, I will lead the establishment of international standards for 6G and quantum security. This will secure South Korea's technological sovereignty in quantum security and lay the groundwork for strengthening our global leadership.”