Korea, France launch auto working group at Seoul industrial talks

South Korea and France agreed to set up a joint automotive working group, the industry ministry said.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy hosted the 21st Korea-France Industrial Cooperation Committee and the ninth New Industry Technology Cooperation Forum at the Pullman Ambassador Hotel in Seoul, following the president's visit to France in September.

The automotive group is a follow-up to an industrial cooperation memorandum of understanding signed by the two ministries during that visit. It will discuss cooperation across automotive supply chains as well as France's electric vehicle subsidy system.

Kim Young-man, director general for trade policy at the industry ministry, led the Korean delegation, while Thomas Courbe, director general for enterprises at France's Ministry of the Economy and Finance, headed the French side.

Kim asked Paris to help ensure Korea is included among the EU's trusted partner countries under the draft Industrial Accelerator Act, which sets domestic production requirements for EU public procurement and subsidy support. He also conveyed concerns about a joint automotive declaration that France and Germany agreed on Oct. 16, and asked that Korean-made cars not be discriminated against as discussions continue.

The two sides also shared policy trends in advanced industries including autos, shipbuilding and bio, and on critical mineral supply chains.

The forum, held for the ninth time since 2014, drew about 200 participants from joint research bodies, industry and academia in both countries. Its themes were manufacturing AX, or the shift of manufacturing to artificial intelligence, and deep tech, with presentations from companies including Hankook & Company, Naver Cloud, Mistral AI and Thales Korea.

Joint research funding has backed 24 projects between 2014 and 2025 with 53.1 billion won ($39.6 million), producing commercial sales and patents. Thinkforbl of Korea is developing AI safety verification technology with France's Numalis, with expected uses in aerospace and rail. Korea's Emoldino presented IoT-based analysis of mold and production data, and France's Aptero showed an AI-based immersive 3D education and training platform.

"This event was a chance to give concrete shape to the summit agreement between our leaders on the 140th anniversary of Korea-France relations through practical cooperation between companies and research sites," Kim said. "We will keep expanding cooperation through government channels such as the advanced-industry working group and the industrial cooperation committee, and actively support joint R&D and the market expansion of results by combining Korea's manufacturing data base with France's deep-tech capabilities in AI and quantum."