Ten years ago, La French Tech arrived in Seoul with a simple goal: get French and Korean startups talking. Now, the ambition is considerably bigger.

At a 10th anniversary celebration held at TIPS Town, Vice Minister Noh Yong-seok set the tone early — Korea and France shouldn’t just be exchanging business cards. They should be building companies together.

The event, co-hosted by Business France and La French Tech Mission, brought together around 200 founders, investors, and policymakers, many of whom have watched the relationship evolve since La French Tech Seoul launched in 2016. Among those in attendance were Clara Chappaz, Bruno Bonnell, Louis Margueritte, and Julie Huguet.

The timing wasn’t incidental. Korea and France are simultaneously marking 140 years of diplomatic relations this year, and high-level engagement between the two governments has picked up noticeably. But the mood in the room was less about looking back and more about figuring out what the next ten years should look like.

On that front, the direction seems clear. Korea wants to be the obvious first stop for French startups eyeing Asia — not just as a market, but as a launchpad with real infrastructure behind it. For Korean startups, the push is in the other direction: get out there, and use platforms like the K-Startup Centers (KSC) — including the one in Paris — to do it.

Vice Minister Noh also put forward an idea that was simple in concept but potentially significant in practice: link COMEUP and France’s VivaTech. Two of the biggest startup events in their respective countries, connected — turning shared visibility into actual deals.

After a decade of bridge-building, the Korea-France startup corridor is starting to look less like a meeting place and more like a platform for something lasting.