So what do people think of France’s new mandatory service law?:
The mandatory part of national service will last a month, while the second, longer phase will be more closely focused on defence and security
The French government has introduced a plan to bring back national service for all 16-year-olds.
It was an idea put forward by Emmanuel Macron in his presidential campaign, to promote a sense of civic duty and national unity among French youth.
But some remain unconvinced of the benefits.
The new national service will cover all 16-year-olds, girls as well as boys, and will be divided into two distinct phases.
National service in two parts
The first phase is a mandatory one-month placement with a focus on civic culture, which the government says will “enable young people to create new relationships and develop their role in society”.
Voluntary teaching and working with charities are among the options being looked at, alongside traditional military preparation with the police, fire service or army.
The second phase is a voluntary placement of at least three months and up to a year, in which young people will be encouraged to serve “in an area linked to defence and security” – but again, they could opt to carry out volunteer work linked to heritage, the environment or social care. [BBC]
You can read more at the link, but it seems this more like a long summer camp than national service. I guess it is better than nothing. It will be interesting to see how this turns out because I assume there will be legal challenges to it.
It looks like President Moon’s attempt to lobby European governments to drop North Korean sanctions is not working:
French President Emmanuel Macron
President Moon Jae-in has told French President Emmanuel Macron that North Korea’s denuclearization needs to be stimulated further by easing UN sanctions if the North’s measures to scrap its nuclear program are believed to have reached an irreversible level.
But North Korea has not remotely reached a point where denuclearization is irreversible. It has not even started. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un flatly refused to give the U.S. even a partial inventory of its nuclear facilities and stockpiles when visiting U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pleaded with him, and instead demanded that the U.S. officially declare an end to the Korean War to “build trust.”
The first step to denuclearization must be reporting all nuclear facilities and fissile materials, because how else will anyone know whether North Korea is scrapping anything? This is a no-brainer. Yet the North is vehemently protesting before taking even the first step, claiming that the demand is tantamount to “mafia-like tactics.”
Yet the South Korean president labors under the delusion that North Korea’s denuclearization has progressed significantly. During his summit last month with U.S. President Donald Trump, Moon even said the North’s denuclearization had almost reached an “irreversible” level already. U.S. nuclear experts, by contrast, say Pyongyang’s gestures so far — dismantling a moribund nuclear test site in Punggye-ri and a static missile launch pad it no longer needs — do not qualify as denuclearization at all.
Moon hopes that North Korea’s denuclearization can reach an irreversible level in a few months and is going around the world asking global leaders to stimulate the process by easing sanctions. Macron quite rightly brushed him off, saying sanctions must continue until “concrete denuclearization steps are taken.” [Chosun Ilbo]
Here is yet another example of a comfort woman statue being built outside of Korea:
Lee Yong-soo, 90, a victim of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery, wipes her eyes as she speaks to Koreans living in France during her recent visit to Paris. / Courtesy of House of Sharing
A “comfort woman” statue is expected to be erected in France to honor the victims of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery.
According to Ahn Shin-kwon, director of the House of Sharing, a shelter for surviving victims in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, the Gwangmyeong City Government and Koreans living in France are in favor of the idea.
“We are trying to figure out if there is a way to set up a statue in public place,” Ahn told The Korea Times Monday.
“We will surely face hurdles along the way just like we did during our San Francisco project. But we will keep pushing hard to make it happen.”
If erected, the statue will be the first comfort woman statue in France. [Korea Times]
Here is an interesting read about Americans joining the French Foreign Legion that was in the Stars & Stripes:
Edward, an American member of the French Foreign Legion, takes a break during a weapons drill in September at Camp de Carpiagne, home base of the Legion’s First Cavalry Regiment. The 24-year-old former U.S. Marine was given a new identity upon joining the Legion. He now operates a Milan anti-tank missile. Slobodan Leckic/Stars and Stripes
For almost 200 years, the French Foreign Legion has prided itself on offering a haven for men yearning for adventure and a new start in life.
It was just what “Edward,” a 24-year-old Californian, was looking for after he was booted out of the U.S. Marine Corps in 2015 for a disciplinary infraction.
“I can’t go into too much detail about what I did, but I was young and very stupid, and that’s why I’m no longer in the Marines,” Edward said.
Edward — who has a new identity given to him by the Legion — is now an anti-tank missile operator in the 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment based near Marseille on the Mediterranean coast.
He is one of what he says are “several dozen” Americans in the elite formation that is still the hard core of the French army. Though many Americans have served with distinction in the Legion’s many wars, their numbers have fallen in recent years.
After drifting through several civilian jobs in southern California, Edward decided he missed the comradeship of military life. He traveled to France, where he reported to a Legion recruitment center in Paris.
“Everyone in the U.S. military knows about the Foreign Legion, but in a general, mythical way, without much solid information,” he said in an interview with Stars and Stripes arranged by the Legion. “So I decided to give it a try.” [Stars & Stripes]
You can read more at the link, but those who are well read about the Korean War may remember that the French Battalion filled with Legionnaires was one of the most colorful and combat hardened units in the war.
An honor guard carrying the portrait of the late French Korean War veteran Jean Le Houx and a box containing his ashes enters Incheon airport, west of Seoul, on Nov. 1, 2017. Le Houx, who took part in the 1950-53 Korean War, died at 84 in December 2016 and left a will expressing his wish to be buried in South Korea. Soldiers from France and 15 other nations fought for South Korea against invading North Korea under the U.N. flag during the war. (Yonhap)
It is pretty clear that over the next month enormous pressure is going to be put on North Korea to give up their nuclear and ICBM programs as even the European powers are now deploying military assets into the region:
A French navy ship arrives at the Sasebo naval base in Sasebo, southwestern Japan, on April 29, 2017
France’s Mistral amphibious assault carrier docked in Nagasaki, Japan on April 29 in advance of military exercises to be conducted with the U.K., U.S., and Japan. Nagasaki is the closest major Japanese port to South Korea, and coming at a time of tension on the peninsula, the French and U.K. naval presence sends a strong message to both China and North Korea. Japan’s increased naval activity is also welcome support for South Korea, and will decrease diplomatic tension between the two natural allies. The U.K. and French presence shows that NATO, including the U.S., is strongly behind South Korea. [Forbes]
It looks like Paris has their own example of apparent police misconduct being used as an excuse by thugs to riot and rob:
A group of South Korean tourists in Paris were robbed of their train tickets and one passport in what appeared to be a case linked to the recent unrest over alleged police brutality, officials said Sunday.
Some 40 Korean tourists were on a bus to their hotel around 9 p.m. Saturday (local time) when three or four black men boarded the bus and fled with the tourists’ Eurostar tickets and the passport of the group’s Korean tour guide, according to officials at the South Korean Embassy in Paris.
The men shouted and brandished what appeared to be glass bottles and struck some of the tourists on their heads. The group included children and senior citizens.
An official at the embassy urged caution in the suburbs north of Paris where the hotel is located, citing safety concerns. More than 2,000 protesters gathered in the nearby suburb of Bobigny the same day to express support for a 22-year-old black man who was alleged raped and subjected to unnecessary violence by police officers during his arrest on Feb. 2. [Yonhap]
South Korean honor guard carrying the portrait of the late French Korean War veteran Andre Belaval and a box containing his ashes enter Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, on Oct. 24, 2016, followed by his bereaved family members. Belaval, who took part in the 1950-53 Korean War, died at 87 in July 2015 and left a will expressing wish to be buried in South Korea. Soldiers from France and 15 other nations fought for South Korea against invading North Korea under the U.N. flag during the war. (Yonhap)
A Hero of the Korean War, French General Ralph Monclar will be remembered during a ceremony today in Seoul:
A publication ceremony for a book featuring photos of the legendary French Gen. Ralph Monclar will be held at 2 p.m. today at the Soorim Arts Center in Dongdaemun District, central Seoul, by the Foundation for the Remembrance of the Chipyong-ni Battle (FRCB).
Raul Charles Magrin-Vernerey, who later adopted the name Ralph Monclar, was a French soldier with over 30 years of service in the armed forces.
In order to lead his soldiers in the 1950-53 Korean War, the general famously reduced his rank from that of a three-star general to lieutenant colonel to avoid a disruption in the chain of command.
The book features some 30 photos of Monclar and his personal items as well as stories on the bravery of the French battalion Monclar had commanded at the height of the war.
FRCB was founded by veteran lawyer Kim Soung-soo, 73, in 2009 to promote a campaign to raise public awareness of the contribution made by Gen. Monclar during the war. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
