French minister to give lecture in S. Korea

French State Reform Minister Jean Vincent Place will give a special lecture on the digital revolution in the South Korean port city of Busan later this week, a city official said Monday. 

The lecture, titled "The Digital Revolution as a Solution to the Democratic and Environmental Challenges of the 21st Century," will be given at the city's inaugural Global Talk Show on Thursday, the official said. 

South Korean President Park Geun-hye (wearing red) is greeted by Jean-Vincent Place (L), French minister of state reform, and other government officials as she arrives in Paris on June 1, 2016. (Yonhap)

The event is also part of events to mark the 130th anniversary of diplomatic relations between South Korea and France this year, he added.

Place took office in February after a long political career that began as an aide to a lawmaker. In 2011, he was elected to the French Senate, becoming the first Korean-born person to take the political post. He formerly served as vice secretary-general of the Green Party.

He also set up Europe's first biodiversity organization, Natureparif, in 2008.

(Yonhap)