1. The preparatory committees of the Republic of Korea and France for the “Years 2015-2016 of ROK-France Bilateral Exchanges” event will hold their second joint meeting in Seoul from January 11 through 13 to prepare for the event.

2. The ROK and France, at their bilateral summit in November 2010, agreed to hold the ““Years 2015-2016 of ROK-France Bilateral Exchanges” event to mark the 130th anniversary of their diplomatic relations in 2016 . Subsequently, the two countries, at their bilateral summit meetings in November 2013 and September 2014, reaffirmed to work closely together to make a success of the event.

3. In a bid to successfully prepare for the event, the two countries have formed their respective preparatory committees, with the ROK’s committee led by Chairman of Hanjin Group Cho Yang-ho and its French counterpart headed by member of the State Council Henri Loyrette. In February 2015, the ROK Foreign Ministry will launch a separate preparatory secretariat to make all-out efforts to promote cultural and other projects for the event.

* Schedule of the “Years 2015-2016 of ROK-France Bilateral Exchanges” event
- “Year of Korea” in France : September 2015 – August 2016
- “Year of France” in Korea : January 2016 – December 2016

4. The ROK delegation to the joint meeting, the second of its kind following the first held in Paris in April 2014, will consist of officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a number of other relevant government agencies. In their meeting, the two sides will discuss project plans in a wide range of fields, including culture, sports, tourism, public diplomacy, economy, education, agricultural produce and other foodstuffs, youth and exchanges between the two countries’ provincial government agencies.

5. In addition, at the forthcoming meeting, the ROK-France committees will screen, announce most of the commemorative events for the “Year of Korea in France” in the fields of culture, sports and tourism.

6. The ROK and France will continue efforts to make the “Years 2015-2016 of ROK-France Bilateral Exchanges” event an opportunity to take their bilateral friendship as well as balanced and sustainable exchanges a notch higher, and to offer their youths a dynamic base for international exchanges. 


                    Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFA

* unofficial translation