Choi Soo-yeon, NAVER CEO, met French President Emmanuel Macron on the 3rd. Marking the 140th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and France, Macron has been on a state visit to Korea since the 2nd.
Choi introduced Macron to NAVER's businesses in France, including its experience operating Naver Labs Europe, an artificial intelligence (AI) research center in Grenoble, and participation as a limited partner in Korelya Capital, founded by former French Minister for the Digital Economy Fleur Pellerin.
She also noted NAVER's AI capabilities that can link the entire process—from a self-developed large language model to data centers, cloud infrastructure, and large-scale user services—through proprietary technology, and conveyed a desire to pursue various collaborations with French AI corporations.
Macron outlined the French government's progress on AI policy and said he would work to encourage more active technology exchanges, business investment, and partnerships between the two countries in AI and cloud industries.
The meeting was arranged at the request of the French government, which said it wanted to discuss cooperation with executives of major Korean corporations. NAVER Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Kim Hee-cheul, Naver Cloud CEO Kim Yu-won, and Naver Labs CEO Seok Sang-ok attended.
On the French side, Emmanuel Bonne, the president's chief foreign policy adviser; Julie Le Saos, adviser in charge of Asia, the Americas, and Oceania; and Victoire Bandeville, adviser for investment promotion, exports, and trade policy, were present.