PARIS -- President Lee Myung-bak on Saturday discussed the G20 summit, regional integration, North Korea’s nuclear program and green growth with renowned scholars of France such as former foreign minister Hubert Vedrine.

President Lee Myung-bak talks with renowned French scholars during a breakfast meeting in Paris on Saturday. Yonhap News
President Lee Myung-bak talks with renowned French scholars during a breakfast meeting in Paris on Saturday. Yonhap News

President Lee Myung-bak talks with renowned French scholars during a breakfast meeting in Paris on Saturday. Yonhap News

Also attending the 90-minute breakfast meeting here with Lee were Guy Sorman, public intellectual and global adviser to Lee; Thierry de Montbrial, chief of the French Institute of International Relations; Camille Grand, disarmament expert and director of the Fondation pour la Recherche Strategique; and Laurence Tubiana, director of the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations and previously presidential advisor on environment.

Having served as diplomatic advisor to president Mitterrand, Vedrine is currently chief of the Institute of Francois Mitterrand.

　Lee shared views on major international issues with the five pundits and listened to their views of the present Korean society and how Seoul should prepare for the future, Lee’s office said in a press release.

　Lee then had an interview with French newspaper Le Monde before meeting with some 150 Korean residents here.

　Currently, over 14,000 South Koreans, half of whom are students, reside in France. Among them, about 3,000 hold long-term visas valid for 10 years or have acquired French citizenships. It is also estimated that some 15,000 ethnic Korean adoptees live in France.

　Lee was to depart Paris later Saturday after a luncheon meeting with Korean businessmen accompanying him on his weeklong tour of Germany, Denmark and France.

　Lee is scheduled to arrive in Seoul Sunday morning.

By Kim So-hyun, Korea Herald correspondent (sophie@heraldm.com)