PARIS — President Lee Jae-myung arrived in Paris on the 7th, the second stop on his France trip, after concluding his schedule at the Lumiere Summit, an international film and video summit held in Saint-Paul-de-Vence.
Lee landed at Paris Orly International Airport aboard Air Force One at about 8:30 p.m. On a state visit to France, the president will carry out official engagements in the capital over two days.
He is scheduled to hold a summit with French President Emmanuel Macron on the 8th. The meeting comes about five months after Macron's visit to South Korea in April, completing an exchange of visits. Lee's first engagement in Paris will be laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe, followed by an official welcoming ceremony, after which he is set to hold a one-on-one luncheon with Macron at the Elysee Palace. An expanded summit attended by delegations from both countries will follow.
The question of safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz is expected to be one of the main items on the summit agenda. France, along with Britain and other European countries, has actively pursued international cooperation to secure safe passage through the strait and has continued consultations with South Korea. Since the South Korean government has said it is weighing a troop deployment that could include combat, non-combat and search operations, the two leaders may exchange views on specific ways to contribute.
On the economic and industrial front, cooperation in advanced technologies including artificial intelligence, space, nuclear power and biotechnology is expected to feature prominently. Consultations are under way in particular to produce concrete results in nuclear cooperation with France, a leading nuclear power producer.
Lee will also attend a Korea-France business roundtable with about 20 companies from the two countries. In the evening, Macron and his wife are scheduled to host a state dinner at the Elysee Palace.
On the 9th, the final day of the visit, Lee plans to meet French National Assembly President Yael Braun-Pivet, followed by a luncheon with members of the Korean community and a meeting with Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Secretary-General Mathias Cormann. National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac said earlier that the visit would "add substance to the global strategic partnership with France and create an opportunity to add new momentum to the expansion of our diplomacy toward Europe."
