French Korean War veterans due in Seoul

SEOUL, Dec. 5 (Yonhap) -- French veterans of the Korean War will arrive here next
week on a Seoul-sponsored program to invite aging veterans to South Korea, where
they fought to repel invading North Korean troops over five decades ago,
officials said Friday.
The group of some 80 people, including 40 officials such as Veterans Affairs
Minister Jean-Marie Bockel along with the veterans' families, will arrive on
Monday for a four-day visit, according to South Korea's Ministry of Patriots and
Veterans Affairs.
They will attend a ceremony on Wednesday to unveil a monument commemorating
France's participation in the 1950-53 Korean War.
"South Korea and France continue to work very closely with each other to
commemorate France's participation in the Korean War," the ministry said in a
press release.
The group is also scheduled to visit the Joint Security Area, better known as the
truce village of Panmumjom, inside the demilitarized zone that divides the two
Koreas.
Bockel will meet with his Korean counterpart Thursday to discuss ways to foster
further cooperation between the two countries, the ministry said.
Some 3,400 French troops fought in the Korean War. About 300 of them went missing
or were killed in action.
The two Koreas technically remain at war, as the conflict ended in an armistice,
not a formal peace treaty.
brk@yna.co.kr
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