박보람
| 2026-09-08 23:24:13
By Park Boram
PARIS, Sept. 8 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and France have signed multiple pacts to enhance cooperation in defense, the economy and others, including an agreement on South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co.'s investment in a French artificial intelligence (AI) firm, the South Korean presidential office said Tuesday.
The agreements were signed before and during South Korean President Lee Jae Myung's visit to France this week for a summit with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, according to Cheong Wa Dae.
One of them is an investment pact signed between Samsung and Mistral AI, under which the South Korean firm will become a "strategic investor" in the French AI firm.
The agreement also calls for cooperation in developing an exclusive AI model for Samsung that could protect its semiconductor information.
The presidential office said the deal is expected to help advance bilateral cooperation on cutting-edge technology beyond the company level to the state level.
An additional bilateral agreement, signed by the South Korean foreign minister and the French defense minister, calls for upgrading a military secret information protection pact between the two countries.
The deal seeks to enhance the stability and reliability of military information sharing between the two countries, while improving the framework for advancing cooperation in national defense and the defense industry, the presidential office said.
Two other memorandums of understanding (MOUs) have been signed -- one on joint research and development projects between South Korean and French companies in the AI, semiconductor and quantum technology sectors, and the other calling for enhanced cooperation in industrial policies, trade and other areas.
The two sides also agreed to seek further agreements on mutual military logistics support and joint research on nuclear power plants, including small modular reactors, the presidential office added.
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