South Korean fusion expert joins ITER Organization’s top management

[Financial News] Jeong Cheon-young, head of ITER’s Quality Management Department (pictured), was appointed Deputy Director General of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) Organization, effective November 1.
According to the Ministry of Science and ICT on the 2nd, the ITER joint development project is the world’s largest international science and technology cooperation project, jointly pursued by seven countries—South Korea, the United States, the European Union (EU), Japan, China, India and Russia—to test and verify the feasibility of fusion energy. 
Under the ITER Joint Implementation Agreement, the seven member countries form a Council to make decisions jointly on the ITER project, while the ITER Organization carries out the project in accordance with the Council’s decisions. The ITER Organization’s top management consists of a Director General (DG) and a total of five Deputy Director Generals (DDGs), each responsible for a specific area.
Deputy Director General Jeong is responsible for the Engineering Services Department, overseeing engineering support and technical coordination required for ITER’s construction and equipment integration. His five-year term runs from November 1, 2026, to October 31, 2031.
After joining the ITER Organization in 2013 as a quality management engineer, Jeong served as head of the Quality Management Team and then head of the Quality Management Department. He is regarded as having a broad understanding of and expertise in the ITER project as a whole, having carried out quality management and assurance work throughout the project—from the design and manufacture of major components through assembly, construction and operation—including developing quality management strategies, improving management systems and conducting quality audits.
This appointment is significant because Jeong is the fourth Deputy Director General of the ITER Organization from South Korea. Since the early days of the ITER project, previous South Korean DDGs have contributed to its progress by taking charge of key areas such as central engineering, construction and technical leadership.
Deputy Director General Jeong said, “During the transition to assembling key components and conducting test operations, I will maximize the synergy between engineering capabilities and rigorous quality assurance to ensure construction integrity and drive ITER’s completion without a hitch. I will devote myself to demonstrating the exceptional expertise of South Korea’s technical workforce to the world and building up key technological assets that will accelerate self-reliance in future clean energy.”

[email protected] Yeon Ji-an Reporter