President Park Geun-hye participated in the groundbreaking ceremony for a residence hall to be used mostly for South Korean students at a Paris university Thursday, laying the cornerstone of education exchanges between South Korea and France.

During the ground-breaking ceremony of the Korea House at the International University Campus in Paris(Cite Internationale Universitaire De Paris), Park said she was pleased to have broken ground this year on the occasion of the 130th anniversary of establishing diplomatic ties.

Park said she expects the construction of Korea House will further strengthen friendship between South Korea and France.

France proposed the construction of the Korea House to South Korea during South Korea-France summits in May 2011 and November 2013, promising to offer a two-thousand-600 square meter land for free as a site to build the residence.