South Korean President Lee Jae Myung to Visit France for Summit with Macron

SEOUL, Sept. 4 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Jae Myung will visit France next week to attend a summit-level event on cinema and hold bilateral talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, a presidential official said Friday.

The trip, scheduled for Sunday to Wednesday, comes at the invitation of Macron following the French leader's visit to South Korea in April, according to National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac. It also comes as the two countries mark the 140th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.

Lee will first travel to Saint-Paul-de-Vence to attend the Lumiere Summit on the future of cinema before making a two-day state visit to Paris from Tuesday, during which he will hold summit talks with Macron, Wi said.

Lee will serve as co-chair of the Lumiere Summit with Macron on Monday, while on Tuesday, Lee and Macron will have a one-on-one luncheon, followed by a summit and a dinner banquet hosted by Macron and his wife, Brigitte Macron, at the Elysee Palace.

In Paris, Lee will also attend a business roundtable involving 20 companies from both countries and have meetings with Yael Braun-Pivet, speaker of the lower house of the French parliament, and Mathias Cormann, secretary-general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Wi said Lee's trip is expected to generate tangible cooperation in security, the economy, science and technology, culture and people-to-people exchanges with France, as well as joint efforts to respond to the rapidly changing international order.

The trip, in particular, will further flesh out the "global strategic partnership" forged between the two countries by fostering cooperation in major sectors, such as security, the economy and people-to-people exchanges, the national security adviser said.

"(South Korea) will also expand cooperation with France in artificial intelligence, space, nuclear energy, biology and other advanced technologies to solidly lay the foundation for the sustainable development of bilateral ties," Wi added, calling the country a leader in future industries.

"We will thoroughly prepare for the trip so it can serve as a new starting point that lays the solid foundation for another 140 years of relations," the national security adviser said.

A presidential official later added that the Lee-Macron summit may also include discussions on cooperation in nuclear power plants and troop deployment to the Strait of Hormuz.