President Moon Si-yeun Selected for the 4th “Korea-France Alumni Visages”
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- Writer 커뮤니케이션팀
- 보도일자 2026-05-19
Sookmyung Women’s University President Moon Si-yeun has been selected as one of the “Korea-France Alumni Visages,” a program representing Korean alumni who studied in France. “Visages,” meaning “faces” in French, is a program that spotlights prominent individuals active across various fields in Korea who have studied in France.
On Thursday, May 14, President Moon attended the launch ceremony for the 4th Korea-France Alumni Visages, hosted by Campus France and the Embassy of France in Korea at the French Ambassador’s Residence in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul.
The event was one of the major programs of “France Alumni Day” and was attended by approximately 100 guests, including French Ambassador to Korea Philippe Bertoux, embassy officials, and leading figures from Korea’s education, business, science, and cultural sectors. This year’s event was especially meaningful as it commemorated the 140th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and France, providing an opportunity to share the experiences and achievements of Korean alumni who studied in France.
The 4th Visages cohort includes ten individuals in total—five women and five men—including President Moon and Roh Yong-seok, Vice Minister of SMEs and Startups.
President Moon is one of Korea’s leading experts on France and has long played a central role in cultural exchange between Korea and France. After graduating from the Dept. of French Language and Literature at Sookmyung Women’s University, she earned both her master’s and doctoral degrees from the graduate school of Paris III University (Sorbonne Nouvelle University). She joined Sookmyung Women’s University in 1997 as a professor in the Dept. of French Language and Culture. She has previously served as President of the Korean Society for French Cultural Arts and currently serves as President of the Korea-France Association. She has also received France’s Order of Arts and Letters at the rank of Officier and the Order of Academic Palms at the rank of Chevalier.
In her remarks, President Moon reflected on her experience studying in France, saying, “My personal and academic journey is inseparable from France.” She then quoted French writer Paul Bourget: “If we do not live as we think, we will soon begin to think as we live,” emphasizing that “the knowledge and ideals we have learned should not remain abstract concepts, but should become a force that leads to real action.”
She added, “As President of Sookmyung Women’s University, I am working to put these beliefs into action by building strong bridges between universities in our two countries,” and expressed her hope that “universities will become spaces of practical humanistic intelligence and innovation, where students learn how to act according to their convictions.”
In his congratulatory remarks, Ambassador Philippe Bertoux referenced comments made by French President Emmanuel Macron during his visit to Korea last month, emphasizing the importance of open and free scientific inquiry that does not yield to external pressure or ideological bias.
Meanwhile, the France Alumni Network, launched in 2014, currently includes 530,000 members across 136 countries. Now in its fourth year, “France Alumni Day” is being held around the world through June under the slogan “Scientific Talent: Discovery, Innovation, Entrepreneurship.”