1. The interagency preparatory committees of the Republic of Korea and France for the “year (2015-2016) of ROK-France bilateral exchanges” will hold their first meeting in Paris, France, from April 14 through 16 to prepare for the event.

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

° The two countries have formed their respective preparatory committees composed of officials of a number of relevant government agencies, such as foreign, culture and education ministries. The ROK’s committee is led by Chairman of Hanjin Group and the Korea-French High Level Businessmen's Club Cho Yang-ho, while the French committee is headed by President-Director of the Louvre Museum Henri Loyrette.

* Tentative schedule of the ROK-France Year 2015-2016” event
- “Year of Korea” in France : September 2015 – August 2016
- “Year of France” in Korea : January 2016 – December 2016

2. The ROK delegation to the aforementioned meeting will consist of officials from relevant government agencies, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Korean Culture and Information Service, the Ministry of Education and the Korea Foundation. In the meeting, the two sides will discuss a wide range of matters concerning the event, including its basic plan, its logo and promotional activities as well as program plans in such fields as culture, arts, public diplomacy, economy, education, science, technology, sports and exchanges between the youths and provincial governments of the two countries.

° The governments of the two countries, in order to take the opportunity of the event to further deepen mutual understanding between the peoples of their two countries, are planning a variety of programs in not only culture and arts but also a wide range of other fields, such as economy, education and youth exchanges.

3. The two countries’ preparatory committees aim to use the event as an opportunity to take the ROK-France friendship to a higher level and present to the youths a shared vision for the future. To this end, the committees will discuss and develop at the upcoming meeting the specific content of the event. 


                Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFA

* unofficial translation