1. The 17th Korea-France Joint Commission of Economic Cooperation will be held on October 27 in Seoul.

2. The Korea-France Joint Commission of Economic Cooperation is held annually, and has been an 
important vehicle for the development of bilateral trade and economic relations. The Korean delegation will 
be headed by Mr. Hong Jong-ki, Deputy Minister for Trade at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Mr. 
Pierre Moraillon, Deputy Minister for Foreign Trade in the French Ministry of Economy, Industry and Trade, will 
head the French delegation. 

3. At this meeting, Korea will request support from France in increasing cooperation on various areas in 
trade and economy, such as the simplification of the permit procedure for Korean businessmen staying in 
France, the early conclusion of a social security agreement, and the designation of a multiple airline. 
Furthermore, Korea will explain the steps taken towards the issues raised by Franceon agricultural products, 
medical products, automobiles, and cosmetics, and will discuss ways for arriving at a harmonious solution.

4. The two sides will elevate the understanding on each other’s economic trends and policies through this 
meeting, and will search for ways to increase multilateral cooperation such as the WTO. Korea, in particular, 
will make an effort to increase France’ s understanding of Korea’s foreign economy policy such as the 
Northeast Asia Peace and Prosperity Policy and the Free Trade Agreement Policy.

5. The trade volume between Korea and France in 2003 was 3.97 billion dollars (exports: 1.75 billion dollars, 
imports: 2.2 billion dollars), and France is Korea’s twelfth largest trading partner and seventh largest 
investor (France’s investment in Korea was 3.4 billion dollars as of September 2004).

                                                     Spokesperson for MOFAT

* unofficial translation