The National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) have signed an amendment to their Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) originally concluded in 2014, aiming to enhance the security and depth of their cutting-edge research collaboration.

On October 23, 2025, NAOJ Director General Mamoru Doi, NAOJ ALMA Project Director Satoru Iguchi, and NAOJ Acting ALMA Program Manager George Kosugi visited KASI for the signing ceremony. The amendment reflects the need to reinforce secure collaboration in light of global trends, ensuring that sensitive data and intellectual property are protected. Beyond the formal signing, the visit featured in-depth discussions with KASI’s leadership and researchers. The meeting provided an opportunity to review past achievements from the research collaboration and share the progress of the Total Power GPU Spectrometer (TPGS), which is currently being co-developed under this agreement and represents one of East Asia’s major contributions to ALMA2’s Wideband Sensitivity Upgrade (WSU). They also actively explored new opportunities for collaboration that will be essential in the ALMA2 era.