President Moon Jae-in and French President Emmanuel Macron shared a special time of friendship during the five hour-long state dinner on Oct. 15 at Élysée Palace in Paris. The French leader displayed exceptional hospitality at the presidential residence of Élysée Palace until almost midnight, which President Moon mentioned was unprecedented as he had never received such hospitality in any other country he visited overseas.  At the dinner, the two leaders toasted “for the future peace and prosperity that Korea and France will carve out together, while reflecting on the spirit of liberty, equality and fraternity.” 

In a special article President Moon Jae-in contributed on Oct. 16 to the L’Osservatore Romano, the daily newspaper in the Holy See, he said that he hoped to transform separation and confrontation into prosperity through peace.  In this article, President Moon also hoped that relations between the Holy See and North Korea can also be revitalized. President Moon wrote that he was pleased to meet the Holy Father on the 55th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Korea and the Holy See. 

President Moon Jae-in, on a trip to five European countries, held a meeting with UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay in Paris on Oct. 16 and discussed the ways Korea and the organization can cooperate to help settle peace on the Korean Peninsula. Moon said that UNESCO is a partner that contributed to Korea’s development especially in the process of realizing democracy by printing educational textbooks right after the Korean War (1950-1953) and helping the Korean Government rebuild the education system. "In the same way, UNESCO could also provide huge help to North Korea as well," said Moon. The director-general proposed that the two Koreas work for the joint registration of traditional ssireum wrestling on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.