Seocho-gu and Paris 15th Arrondissement Exchange and Cooperation
Six University Students Selected to Visit Paris Until the 16th of This Month
University students from Seocho-gu, Seoul (Mayor Jeon Seong-su) will visit the 15th arrondissement of Paris, France, from the 10th to the 16th of this month to serve as private diplomats promoting Korean culture and the charm of Seocho as a city of culture and arts.
Seo Seong-su, Mayor of Seocho-gu, and students of the '2025 Paris 15th District Study' are taking a commemorative photo after a meeting. Provided by Seocho-gu.
Since signing a business agreement in 2016, Seocho-gu and the 15th arrondissement of Paris have been conducting a cultural exchange project called the ‘Paris 15th Arrondissement Study.’ Following the principle of reciprocity, university students have been dispatched five times in total: in 2019, 2022, and 2024 from Paris 15th arrondissement to Seocho-gu, and in 2020 and 2023 from Seocho-gu to Paris 15th arrondissement. A total of 28 university students have exchanged and promoted each other’s cultures.
Six university students selected from Seocho-gu will participate in the 2025 Paris 15th Arrondissement Study program. They will visit public institutions such as the Paris 15th arrondissement town hall and the Senate to directly observe and experience French politics, and will also hold a meeting with Mayor Philippe Goujon.
They will have time to interact with Parisian university students who are interested in Korean culture. By sharing each other’s cultures and university life, they will build mutual understanding and create precious memories. All journeys will be documented and released as short videos filmed and edited by the students themselves.
Participants will later join as the ‘8th Seocho Youth Network Activity Committee Members’ this year, proposing various youth policies based on their experiences.
The recruitment for the Paris 15th Arrondissement Study recorded a high competition rate of about 16.3 to 1. Students were finally selected through a review committee composed of private experts in international exchange and youth policy. Round-trip airfare, accommodation, meals, cultural and language education experience fees are fully supported by the Paris 15th arrondissement.
Meanwhile, since establishing a friendship agreement with the Paris 15th arrondissement in 2016, the district has continued various public diplomacy policies. These include the creation of the Paris 15th arrondissement park in Seorae Village in 2016, a friendship commemorative tree planting in the park in 2019, support for video calls and antibacterial film stickers related to COVID-19 in 2020, and participation in the Paris 15th arrondissement’s representative festival ‘Korean Expo’ since 2017. Especially last year, the two cities strengthened their cooperative relationship and deepened their friendship by being invited to the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Mayor Jeon Seong-su said, “I hope the students participating in the ‘2025 Paris 15th Arrondissement Study’ will promote the culture of Seocho and Korea as young private diplomats of Seocho and develop their capabilities as global leaders,” adding, “We will continue to promote various exchange programs for Seocho students in the future.”
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