Seoul's Seocho-gu has continued its decade-long friendship with the 15th arrondissement of Paris through a youth international exchange program.
Seocho-gu announced Tuesday that it hosted five university students from the Paris 15th arrondissement — a sister city — from Oct. 25 to Saturday as part of the "2026 Seocho Study" program, introducing them to Korean culture and the district's attractions.
Seocho Study is the flagship youth exchange initiative that has run since Seocho-gu and the Paris 15th arrondissement signed an MOU in 2016. The program operates on a reciprocal basis, with university students from each city taking turns visiting the other.
Students from the Paris 15th arrondissement visited Seocho-gu in 2019, 2022 and 2024, while Seocho-gu students traveled to Paris in 2020, 2023 and 2025. Over six rounds of exchanges, 34 university students have experienced each other's cultures and built friendships.
The French students who visited Seocho-gu explored the district's administrative, historical and cultural sites, taking in the many facets of Seoul.
They joined "Music Pub Travel," Seocho-gu's autumn walking tour program, visiting the barrier-free forest trail on Umyeonsan and Seoripul Art Studio. They also toured the Banpo-Sevit tourism special zone, Goto Mall, Banpo Hangang Park and the Seoul International Garden Expo at Maeheon Citizens' Forest, surveying the district's tourism and cultural assets.
At major Seoul landmarks including Gyeongbokgung and Myeong-dong, the students experienced both traditional and contemporary Korean culture. They also met with local youth serving as active members of the Seocho Youth Network, exchanging ideas and perspectives to broaden their international outlook.
The ties between Seocho-gu and the Paris 15th arrondissement extend well beyond youth exchange. After establishing a Paris 15th arrondissement-themed park in Seorae Village in 2016, Seocho-gu began participating in Korean Expo — the arrondissement's signature festival — from 2017. In 2019, the two sides planted a friendship tree in the Paris park, and during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 they maintained cooperation through video calls and the exchange of antibacterial film stickers. The district has also sustained public diplomacy efforts, including receiving an invitation to the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
"I hope this Seocho Study gave the Paris 15th arrondissement students a deeper understanding of Korean and Seocho culture and a chance to develop their global capabilities," District Mayor Jeon Sung-su said. "We will continue to pursue a variety of international exchange programs so that young people can understand each other's cultures and build friendships."
seouldream01@heraldcorp.com
