The President and French President Emmanuel Macron Hold Summit

October 15, 2018

President Moon Jae-in and French President Emmanuel Macron held a summit at Élysée Palace today. It was their second summit following the first on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany, last year. The two Presidents had in-depth discussions about forward-looking substantive cooperation between the two countries, recent developments on the Korean Peninsula and pending global issues.

 

In regard to complete denuclearization by North Korea and relevant United Nations sanctions, President Moon informed President Macron that “Chairman Kim Jong Un unveiled his intent not only to halt nuclear and missile tests and dismantle their production facilities but also destroy all nuclear weapons and materials stockpiled should the United States take corresponding measures.” He went on to say, “At least, if North Korea’s denuclearization is judged to enter an irreversible phase, its denuclearization should be further facilitated by easing U.N. sanctions. I hope President Macron will play this role as the president of a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council.”

 

Concerning the European Union's announcement of provisional safeguard measures on Korean steel products in the aftermath of the United States' Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum, President Moon said, “Most of the Korean steel goods exported to the European Union are supplied to auto and home appliances manufacturing plants in the region built with investments by Korean businesses, and they contribute to increasing production and creating job opportunities in the European Union.” In this connection, President Moon asked his counterpart to “exclude Korean steel goods from the list of items subject to the safeguard measures, even though the final adoption of these measures is inevitable.”

 

President Macron expressed the hope that North Korea would be able to continuously take substantive measures for its denuclearization. The French President added that his country would provide support and remain as Korea's partner throughout to ensure the success of the peace process being pursued by President Moon on the Korean Peninsula.

 

Building upon the Korea-France comprehensive partnership for the 21st century established in 2004, the two leaders agreed on the need to expand bilateral trade and investment in a more balanced manner. They also agreed to make joint efforts to develop new growth engines in response to the Fourth Industrial Revolution by boosting cooperation in such areas as science and technology, new industries, small and medium-sized companies and startups.

 

 There are an estimated 500,000 startups operating in France, the largest number in Europe, with about 10,000 startups based in Paris alone. France has been implementing the French Tech initiative, a government-led policy to foster digital businesses to help startup companies grow and enter overseas markets.

 

 The two leaders were in agreement that France, a leading nation in startup activities in Europe, and Korea, which is focusing on innovative growth, should strengthen cooperation to identify and foster small and medium-sized enterprises and help young people start new businesses.