Paris: Foreign Minister Cho Hyun will travel to France next week to attend the foreign ministerial meeting of the Group of Seven (G7) advanced countries, the foreign ministry said Tuesday. Cho will make a three-day trip to Paris from Wednesday through Friday for the multilateral gathering, to which South Korea has been invited as a guest country, ministry spokesperson Park Il said during a regular press briefing.

According to Yonhap News Agency, "The government will participate in the meeting to strengthen the partnership between South Korea and the G7 nations, and to further promote our standing as a responsible global leader," Park said. The expanded G7 ministerial meeting will address the reform and reconstruction of global governance and transnational threats, among other issues.

Cho may meet bilaterally with his counterparts of G7 member states and other participating countries on the sidelines of the ministerial meeting, a ministry official said. South Korea is in talks with the United States and Japan to arrange bilateral and trilateral meetings among their foreign ministers, the official added.