(Telecompaper) The European Union and South Korea have agreed to work together to develop 5G standards and technology. The agreement was signed in Seoul by Neelie Kroes, Vice-President of the European Commission for the Digital Agenda, and Mun-Kee Choi, South Korea's Minister of Science, ICT and Future Planning. The two will work towards a global definition of 5G, including harmonised spectrum bands to ensure global interoperability of the next generation of mobile technology. In 2016, they will launch a joint call for research projects on 5G. In addition, an industry memorandum of understanding was signed between the EU's 5G Infrastructure Association (whose members include Alcatel-Lucent, Atos, Deutsche Telekom, Ericsson, Nokia, Orange, Telecom Italia, Telenor and Telefonica) and South Korea's 5G Forum. The EU and South Korea agreed already last November to partner on ICT research. They are now setting up a working group to prepare for the ICT R&D cooperation as well as hold policy discussions in the areas of 5G, cloud and Internet of Things, ahead of the launch of jointly funded R&D programmes in 2016-2017.