PHNOM PENH — King Norodom Sihamoni departs for France on Dec. 1 to attend in Paris a meeting of the Academie Francaise (French Academy).

“During my absence, Senate President Hun Sen will fulfil the duty as the Acting Head of State,” the king wrote in an official letter signed on Nov. 28 and posted by the Ministry of Information on Nov. 30.

The French Academy, which was established in 1635, serves as an official authority on the French language. King Sihamoni had been received at the academy in 2006 during a private session.

In the 1990s, King Sihamoni was appointed Cambodia’s permanent representative to UNESCO in Paris. He served in this capacity, living in France, until 2004 when he returned to Cambodia to be crowned as the country’s king.