PARIS — President Lee Jae-myung's state visit to France produced what officials describe as a new alliance between the two countries in advanced industries, capped by a strategic partnership between Samsung Electronics (005930) and Mistral AI, Europe's leading artificial intelligence developer. Analysts said Korea expanded its cooperation potential with a country that is both a competitor in advanced industries and a highly complementary partner. The government is expected to broaden its foothold in the European market beyond semiconductors and AI, into defense, nuclear power and biotechnology.
Samsung Electronics signed a memorandum of understanding with Mistral AI at the Élysée Palace in Paris on the 8th, with President Lee and French President Emmanuel Macron in attendance. Under the agreement, Samsung is expected to take a leading role in securing 3 billion euros (about 4.68 trillion won) of investment in Mistral, raise its stake in the company and make extensive use of Mistral's technology in building its AI factory.
Samsung plans to apply Mistral's AI technology on its chip manufacturing floors to improve yields and process efficiency. The idea is to move beyond supplying DRAM and high-bandwidth memory and hasten an era in which chips are made with AI. The two companies also plan to pursue manufacturing innovation by applying advanced AI to semiconductor research and development and to production processes. Chip manufacturing has recently shrunk from 3 nanometers, or one-billionth of a meter, to below 2 nanometers, sharply raising the difficulty of production. Chipmakers are now putting all their resources into securing the capacity to achieve high yields at those ultrafine nodes.
Lee and Macron also signed 16 documents that day. They included a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in AI, semiconductors and quantum technology; an implementing arrangement on cooperation in promoting the space industry; a protocol amending the military information security agreement; and a protocol amending the air services agreement. The two sides agreed to move ahead soon on a mutual logistics support agreement and a memorandum of understanding on nuclear research and development cooperation.
"France, Europe's leading defense industry nation, has taken part in a range of projects to strengthen the Korean military's capabilities," Lee said in a joint press statement. "Based on France's accumulated technological strength and Korea's competitive manufacturing capabilities, the two countries will actively identify mutually beneficial cooperation projects that help both sides." He added: "We agreed to further strengthen economic and industrial cooperation, with a target of $20 billion in trade by 2030. We will continue to communicate closely so that companies from both countries can operate in a stable and predictable environment and create more opportunities in each other's markets."
The two leaders followed the expanded talks, the signing ceremony and the joint press statement with a business roundtable attended by about 20 companies from the two countries. Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor (005380), LG Electronics (066570), NAVER (035420), Hanwha (000880) and Hyosung (004800) discussed cooperation plans with French companies at the event, according to people familiar with the meeting. The discussions covered energy, mobility, infrastructure, biotechnology and quantum computing.
Lee also used the summit to restate Korea's willingness to work with partners on freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. "In April, I took part in a conference on the Strait of Hormuz led by France and the United Kingdom, where I stated Korea's willingness to contribute to stability in the strait and to freedom of navigation," he said. "Korea and France will continue close coordination so that freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and the stability of global supply chains can be restored as soon as possible."
"President Macron also showed unwavering support for our Korean Peninsula policy and a willingness to cooperate," Lee said. "At a time when security in Northeast Asia and in Europe is more closely linked than ever, the two countries will continue to work closely together for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the international community."
Hong Ihk-pyo, senior presidential secretary for political affairs, said on a YouTube broadcast that day that internal discussions on a possible troop deployment to the Strait of Hormuz were still under way. "Some think we should play an active role within the Korea-U.S. relationship, while others are somewhat concerned, so the discussion is continuing," Hong said. "More discussion will be needed after the president returns from his trip." The remarks were read as signaling that the question of a deployment requires a cautious approach.
