The Korea Basic Science Institute will join forces with a Japanese think tank to conduct personnel exchanges and equipment development in nuclear fusion and plasma technology.

The Science and Technology Ministry said the KBSI and Atomic Energy Research Institute of Japan signed a cooperation agreement Friday in Seoul.

The two sides will conduct joint studies to develop technology aimed at commercializing fusion energy.

To this end, they will build an auxiliary heating facility for the Korean Superconducting Tokamak Reactor (KSTAR) project and hold periodic inspections.

Led by the KBSI, the KSTAR project is to be completed by August 2007.