President Lee Jae-myung, on a state visit to France, held a summit with President Emmanuel Macron on the 8th (local time) and adopted 16 documents in various fields to advance exchanges and cooperation between the two countries.
The total number of documents adopted in the presence of the two leaders is nine.
First, the two countries signed a "protocol amending the military secret information protection agreement," adding access restrictions to strengthen the protection of each country's military secrets. The Blue House said this would strengthen the stability and reliability of military information exchanges and lay the groundwork for expanding defense and defense industry cooperation.
They also adopted a "protocol amending the air services agreement" to strengthen security and safety standards in bilateral aviation cooperation.
They signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that includes pursuing joint projects in artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and quantum technology and working to attract investment.
They also adopted an "implementation arrangement on cooperation to promote the space industry," agreeing to broaden the cooperation base in advanced industries.
They adopted an "industrial cooperation and competitiveness MOU" that lays an institutional foundation for cooperation, including creating a minister-level industrial strategy dialogue between the two countries.
In addition, they adopted a "cultural cooperation MOU" to boost the cultural industry and joint investment, an "intellectual property cooperation MOU" to increase exchanges in intellectual property policy using advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, and a "letter of intent on long-term supply of enrichment services" for cooperation on enrichment facilities.
Agreements involving private corporations were also concluded.
Samsung Electronics decided to join Mistral AI, a French AI startup, as a strategic investor. Through this, they agreed to cooperate on developing an internal, Samsung Electronics–dedicated AI model that can protect semiconductor know-how.
In addition, although President Lee was not present, there are documents adopted on the occasion of this state visit.
The Korean National Police Agency and its French counterpart signed a "public security cooperation agreement," agreeing to jointly respond to transnational crimes and cooperate in tracking fugitives.
They also adopted a "business cooperation MOU" to dispatch economic delegations from both countries and activate startup information sharing; a "biotechnology cooperation MOU" and a "plant science cooperation MOU" to strengthen cooperation in the bio field; and a "quantum technology cooperation MOU in biotechnology."
They also adopted a "university cooperation MOU" to activate human exchanges between the countries' science and technology universities, and a "mathematics and physics cooperation MOU" to expand exchanges of researchers in basic disciplines.
There are also documents for which detailed texts are being coordinated for adoption. The two countries agreed to conclude an "acquisition and cross-servicing agreement (ACSA)" to expedite logistics support in wartime and peacetime and are consulting on the detailed text. A research and development cooperation MOU for joint research on small modular reactors (SMRs) is also scheduled to be signed on a separate occasion.