Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yul held a working breakfast with Emmanuel Bonne, French President’s Diplomatic Advisor and G20 and G7 Sherpa, on September 3. Minister Cho and Diplomatic Advisor Bonne exchanged views on a range of areas, including bilateral relations, regional issues, and cooperation in international fora.

 Minister Cho appreciated that the high-level exchanges between the Republic of Korea and the French Republic have been active lately, noting that this February, Minister Cho met with French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné during the G20 Foreign Ministerial Meeting, and met with French President’s Diplomatic Advisor Emmanuel Bonne today. Minister Cho expressed his hopes that the two nations would further expand their cooperation through high-level exchanges, including mutual visits by the leaders of the two countries and the Korea-France Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue.

Mentioning that 2026 will mark the 140th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Diplomatic Advisor Bonne suggested working closely for concrete results. He also expressed his hopes to establish institutional foundations that facilitate cultural exchanges between young generations of the two countries by amending the Cultural Agreement signed by both nations in 1965. In response, Minister Cho agreed to prepare together for a successful 140th anniversary and amend the Cultural Agreement to reflect advancing bilateral relations between Korea and France.

Minister Cho also stressed the importance of enhancing trade and investment between the two nations and hoped to pursue concrete cooperation in future-oriented areas such as artificial intelligence (AI) and the space sector. In response, Diplomatic Advisor Bonne highlighted their great potential for cooperation in AI and nuclear energy and proposed continuing discussions to further strengthen their bilateral collaboration.

Minister Cho emphasized that Korea pursues diplomacy based on values and norms and places great importance on expanding its partnership with the G7 countries. He expressed his hope for further enhancing cooperation between Korea and the G7 countries.

 In addition, Minister Cho explained that Korea, this year alone, hosted the third Summit for Democracy, the AI Seoul Summit, and the Korea-Africa Summit. He noted that these initiatives demonstrate Korea's growing contributions to the global community as a Global Pivotal State and its important role in relations with the Global South countries. He urged that attention be given to the added value that Korea can bring through its collaboration with the G7 countries.

Diplomatic Advisor Bonne emphasized that France, which will assume the G7 Presidency in 2026, highly values collaboration with partner countries holding significant potential, such as the Republic of Korea. He expressed his hope to further strengthen cooperation between the two countries on global issues, such as climate change and forest protection.

Furthermore, in response to Diplomatic Advisor Bonne’s mention of enhancing bilateral cooperation on global issues within the Indo-Pacific region, Minister Cho explained Korea’s initiatives with ASEAN countries and suggested that the two countries continue concrete discussions during the upcoming Korea-France Indo-Pacific Dialogue.

Minister Cho emphasized that the security of Europe and the Indo-Pacific region is now more closely connected due to the recent Russia-DPRK military cooperation. In response, Diplomatic Advisor Bonne agreed on the importance of solidarity among like-minded countries, especially in light of the situation in Ukraine and the growing military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, and expressed his hope to further expand cooperation with the Republic of Korea.

Additionally, Diplomatic Advisor Bonne appreciated Korea's support for Ukraine and emphasized the importance of the global community’s continued support for Ukraine. Minister Cho affirmed that Korea will continue supporting Ukraine.

Minister Cho and Diplomatic Advisor Bonne also exchanged in-depth views on regional issues, including Northeast Asia. They agreed to continue to closely communicate and cooperate on major global agendas.