President Park Geun-hye landed in Paris on June 1, the last leg of her four-nation tour to Africa and Europe.

The president arrived in France to celebrate 130 years of diplomatic ties between the two nations, on a formal invitation from French President Francois Hollande. The trip marks the first official state visit to France by a Korean president in 16 years.

On June 2, President Park will attend the Korea-France Business Forum and oversee one-on-one counseling sessions for businesspeople from both nations. She will then head to the much anticipated "K-CON 2016 France" concert later in the evening, an event featuring performances by popular K-pop groups.

The following day, on May 3, President Park is set to hold summit talks with President Hollande. They will discuss ways to bolster their partnership through the creative industries and ways to develop the arts. The two leaders are also expected to strengthen their collaborative efforts on enforcing U.N. sanctions against North Korea as a means to address North Korea's nuclear weapons issues.



On the occasion of the summit, the two nations will be signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that outlines areas of cooperation that will create new growth engines for their economies. The two presidents will adopt a joint declaration to mark the 130th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties. This will be a follow-up to the "Action Plan for a 21st Century Strengthened Comprehensive Partnership" covering bilateral cooperation across 11 sectors, that was signed last November during President Hollande's state visit to Korea.

Finally, on June 4, President Park will visit Grenoble in southeastern France where 42 years ago the president spent six months as an exchange student. There, she will attend an event focused on partnership in the creative industries.

By Lee Hana
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: Cheong Wa Dae
hlee10@korea.kr