Tag: France

The French Air Force is currently conducting training with their U.S. and Japanese counterparts during the Northern Edge exercise:

A French Rafale fighter prepares for takeoff at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, July 5, 2023. (Hannah Strobel/U.S. Air Force)

 The French air force trained alongside its American and Japanese counterparts across the Indo-Pacific recently even as the French president objected to NATO opening an office in Tokyo.

French President Emmanuel Macron has told NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg he opposes such a plan, Japan’s national broadcaster NHK reported Sunday.

The plan was revealed in May amid concern about Chinese aggression toward Taiwan with one defense expert suggesting Yokota Air Base, the home of U.S. Forces Japan in western Tokyo, as a likely site. 

However, an unidentified official at France’s presidential office told journalists Friday that articles of the NATO alliance specify its geographical scope, which is the North Atlantic, according to NHK.

Meanwhile, the French are training alongside U.S. and Japanese forces as part of Northern Edge, which began July 2 and wraps July 21, Air Force Lt. Col. Keegan Dale, commander of 13th Fighter Squadron, told Stars and Stripes by phone Friday. The squadron, from Misawa Air Base, Japan, was deployed to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, south of Hiroshima, for the exercise.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

It looks like the Yoon administration has France on its side if they need to have the UN send Kim Jong-un any sternly worded letters:

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (L) and French President Emmanuel Macron give a joint press statement ahead of their summit at Elysee Palace in Paris on June 20, 2023. (Yonhap)

President Yoon Suk Yeol said Tuesday that South Korea and France will cooperate closely to deal with North Korea’s unlawful provocations as fellow members of the U.N. Security Council.

Yoon made the remark before going into a summit with French President Emmanuel Macron at Elysee Palace, the presidential office and residence.

Yoon arrived in Paris the previous day to attend a general assembly of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), the international body in charge of overseeing the World Expo, to promote South Korea’s bid to host the 2030 World Expo in its southeastern city of Busan.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I had thought that maybe the Korean woman rescued by French commandoes was a missionary, but it appears she was simply an around the world traveler. I just don’t understand why people would put themselves and more importantly others sent to rescue them in danger needlessly like this:

The South Korean woman who was rescued from a hostage situation in western Africa had traveled to Mali, a country that the Seoul government has advised nationals to either not go to or to leave, before she was kidnapped, a foreign ministry official said Monday. 
The Korean woman in her 40s was freed in an operation led by the French military in Burkina Faso last week after near monthlong captivity by an apparent Islamic militant group. She was safely transported to Paris on Saturday (Paris time) and arrangements are being made for her return to South Korea at an early date. 
A foreign ministry official said the victim had been traveling to conflict-prone nations in the African region as part of a round-the-world trip that began about 18 months ago. 
She had visited Morocco, Senegal and Mali before arriving in Burkina Faso. She was said to be on her way to Benin when she was taken hostage, the official said. 
“Objectively speaking, it is true that the victim passed through fairly dangerous areas,” the ministry official said. 
Under South Korea’s four-level travel warning system, Mali and northern Burkina Faso have been designated “red alert,” meaning South Koreans are advised not to go or to leave such places, largely due to political unrest.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

A Korean woman is very lucky to be alive after being rescued by the French military in Burkina Faso:

French special forces have rescued a Korean, two French and an American tourist after a military operation in Burkina Faso. The four have been held captive by an armed gang in the West African country located in the Sahel area which has recently seen a rise in violence by al Qaeda- and Islamic State-linked militants.
Kim Bum-soo has more. 

Report:  

[Sound bite: Florence Parly – French Minister of the Armed Forces (French)] ​ 
“The freed hostages will be able to find their freedom and their loved ones again.”
 
French special forces have rescued four hostages, including two of its own citizens, a South Korean and an American, from a militant group in Burkina Faso.

The French military announced on Friday that two of its commandos lost their lives during the operation in the West African country. It said four terrorists were killed while two escaped during combat. 

KBS World Radio

You can read more at the link, but Burkina Faso is under a travel alert to South Koreans because of the Islamic militants. I wonder if this Korean woman was a missionary?