Lee to leave for four-day France visit focused on cinema, diplomacy and economic cooperation
President Lee Jae Myung will co-chair the Lumière Summit and meet French President Emmanuel Macron during a state visit starting Sunday that marks the countries' 140-year bilateral relations.
Korean President Lee Jae Myung, right, chats with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Group of 7 summit in Évian-les-Bains, France, on June 16.AP/YONHAP
President Lee Jae Myung will make a four-day state visit to France from Sunday to hold talks with French President Emmanuel Macron and partake in an international cinema summit, the Blue House announced Friday.
On Sunday, Lee will head to Saint-Paul-de-Vence in southern France to co-chair the Lumière Summit on the future of cinema alongside Macron on Monday, National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac said in a press briefing at the Blue House in central Seoul. The Lumière Summit is an international film event dedicated to the future of cinema, television, streaming and video games and will bring industry leaders including CEOs, filmmakers, talent and policymakers together in France.
From Tuesday, Lee will make a two-day visit to Paris for a bilateral summit with Macron, Wi said. The two leaders will take part in an official welcome ceremony, a one-on-one luncheon, summit talks and a state dinner banquet hosted by Macron and his wife, Brigitte Macron, at the Élysée Palace.
Lee will also take part in a Korea-France business roundtable, inviting some 20 companies from both countries.
He will also hold meetings with Yaël Braun-Pivet, president of France’s National Assembly, and Mathias Cormann, secretary general of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
The visit from Sunday to Wednesday comes at the invitation of Macron, reciprocating the French president’s visit to Seoul in April. This year, Korea and France mark the 140th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relations.
The Lumière Summit will discuss how governments, companies and the film industry should respond to AI, develop responses to the transformations reshaping the moving image landscape and build strategic alliances across countries and sectors, according to its organizers. Macron invited Lee to co-chair during his April visit to Korea.
National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac speaks at a press briefing announcing President Lee Jae Myung’s four-day state visit to France at the Blue House in central Seoul on Sept. 4.JOINT PRESS CORPS
“We will take the lead — alongside France, a nation that has driven the birth and growth of the film industry — in discussing the future of the global film and video sectors as a co-chair nation, while further expanding the foundation for K-content and Korean companies to enter European and global markets,” Wi said.
He added that the visit will serve as an opportunity to solidify the “global strategic partnership” with France through substantive cooperation encompassing security, economy and people-to-people exchanges, and to add new momentum to the expansion of diplomacy toward Europe.
“Through a summit with the president of France, a key EU nation and a permanent member of the UN Security Council that holds significant international standing, we expect to respond to the rapidly changing international order and achieve concrete cooperative outcomes across security, the economy, science and technology, culture and people-to-people exchanges,” Wi said.
“We will solidify the foundation for the sustainable development of bilateral relations by expanding cooperation in cutting-edge sectors such as AI, aerospace, nuclear energy and biotechnology with France, a leader in future industries, and by revitalizing exchanges involving youths and the science and technology community.”
