KT, one of Korea's major telecommunications service providers, has joined forces with the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI) to open the nation's first 400-gigabit-per-second (Gbps) international dedicated circuit linking Korea and the United States, creating a faster route for massive research datasets. The circuit connects KISTI’s headquarters in Daejeon with Chicago, a major hub for research networks serving North America and Europe, KT said Wednesday. The new connection quadruples bandwidth from the previous 100 Gbps and is designed to support faster, more stable transfers for international scientific collaboration. Demand for cross-border data exchange has grown as research involving artificial intelligence (AI), large-scale science and astronomy increasingly depends on vast volumes of data, KT said. The new network is expected to accelerate transfers of large research datasets, strengthen global connectivity for Korea’s national research network and expand support for international collaborative research. KT and KISTI also completed technical tests aim