France's first South Korean-born minister Fleur Pellerin said she will try to strengthen relations between the two countries in various areas as she is proud of her Korean origin and wants to learn more about Korean culture.

 In an interview with Korean correspondents stationed in Paris Thursday, Pellerin said her visit to South Korea may come as early as next year. But even if she visits Seoul, she said she doesn't want to find her biological parents or relatives.

   As a minister in charge of small and medium businesses, innovation and the digital economy, Pellerin said she wants to learn from South Korea's high-speed communication network system and study what innovations made such Korean companies as Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics global giants.

   Pellerin, 38, whose Korean name is Kim Jong-suk, was adopted by a French family in 1973, six months after her birth. She served as an adviser on the campaign team of now-French President Francois Hollande, who appointed her to the Cabinet post earlier this month.

   A graduate of the ESSEC business school, she also worked at the Board of Audit and Inspection.

   "As the minister in charge of the digital economy, I want to learn about the overall system model of South Korea's high-speed communication network" to help advance France's communication network. France is expected to see a high-speed communication network laid across the nation in 10 years, she said.

   Pellerin said she thinks of South Korea as a country that achieved rapid economic growth and has big growth potential. She wants to study the success cases of Samsung and LG and what innovative measures were taken to make them globally recognized firms.

   She said will carry out projects to draw more South Korean investment to France and try to strengthen relations between South Korea and France in various areas, such as boosting exchanges between college students of the two sides.

   Since taking office, she said she met unofficially with South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan, Seoul's Ambassador to Paris Park Heung-shin and other officials, and discussed ways to increase cooperation between the two countries.

   Though she came to France only six months after her birth, Pellerin said she takes pride in her Korean origin, adding that it is interesting she has drawn much attention from South Korea even if she is French in every aspect and only appears to be Korean.

   "Although I have not been invited yet, I would like to visit South Korea around next year as I have many things to do now," she said.

  (Yonhap News)