France–South Korea relations have spanned over a period from the 19th century to the present. In 2016, France and Korea celebrated the 130th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the countries.[1]
According to a 2013 BBC World Service Poll, 70% of South Koreans view France's influence positively, with only 11% expressing a negative view. French views of South Korea vary, with 42% viewing South Korea negatively, and 46% viewing South Korea positively.
Initial French involvement in the 19th century focused on facilitating and defending the spread of Roman Catholic Christianity in Korea. The first French missionary to Korea, Father Philippe Maubant, arrived in the country in 1836.[4] After that date, missionaries would continue to come to Korea from China, often at great risk. In September 1846, the French Admiral Jean-Baptiste Cécille sailed to Korea in order to obtain the release of an imprisoned Korean priest named Andrew Kim Taegon, but Kim was soon executed.[5] In 1847, after various involvements in Vietnam and Okinawa, Cécille again sailed to Korea to try to infiltrate some missionaries, but his ship ran aground and he had to be rescued by a British ship.[5]
French landing at Ganghwa Island.The French frigate Guerrière commanded by Admiral Roze was the lead ship in the French campaign against Korea. Here the ship is photographed in Nagasaki harbour, circa 1865.
In 1866, reacting to greater numbers of Korean converts to Roman Catholicism as well as the humiliations suffered by China at the hands of Westerners during the First and Second Opium Wars, the Korean court clamped down on the illicit French missionaries, massacring French Catholic missionaries and Koreans converts alike.
That same year France launched a punitive expedition against Korea, invading and occupying portions of Ganghwa Island in the fall of 1866. At the first battle, the Korean infantry division lost heavily, and General Yang Heon-su concluded that only a large cavalry division could stand up to French firepower. An ambush by Korean forces on a French party attempting to occupy the strategically located Cheondeung Temple 傳燈寺 on the island's south coast resulted in French casualties. French realization that they were far outnumbered and outgunned forced them to abandon the island and their expedition. The entire incident later became known as the byeong-in yang-yo, or foreign disturbance of the byeong-in year (1866).
Diplomatic relations (1886)
French legation to Korean Empire in c.1900
France and Korea established their first official relations in 1886 after an unequal treaty France–Korea Treaty of 1886. In 1887, France sent its first official representative, Victor Collin de Plancy along with his translator, Maurice Courant. He [Courant] would later be known as the "father" of Korean studies in France. In France, the first records of a Korean living there permanently, Hong Jong-u, who arrived there not too long after official relations were established. Arriving in Marseille in 1890, he spent a few years working in France in a museum where he would be very helpful in establishing the first Korean Art and Culture section.[6] Despite this, it was not until the 1900 Paris World's Fair/Exposition Universelle that Korea was "introduced" to the French public.[7]
Interruption of diplomatic relations (1906–1949)
Korea under Japanese rule created a break in Franco-Korean relations. For more than 40 years, from 1906 to 1949, France did not have diplomatic representation in Korea. However, despite closure of the embassy, this did not mean that relations ended altogether. In 1919, a delegation of the Korean government in exile was opened in Paris. This acted as the liaison between the two societies during those years.[8] In 1949, the embassy was officially re-opened and a new ambassador took office in Seoul. Unfortunately for him, he was taken prisoner and spent three years, from 1950 to 1953, in North Korea until he was released and granted a diplomatic post in a different country.
The Korean War
The Korean War was a turning point that helped strengthen relations between the two countries. Before that time, relations had always been more or less limited to a few individuals at governmental level. News of the war introduced Korea to a wider French public. From 1950 to 1953, 3,200 French soldiers assisted South Korea by taking part in the fighting. Of these, 270 were killed.[6]
French participation in the Korean War improved cultural and economic links between the two countries. Though South Korea changed greatly in the following decades, the two countries continued to maintain normal diplomatic relations. The year 2002 was the first in which the number of French citizens present in South Korea surpassed the number present during the Korean War. By 2002, 6,000 to 7,000 French citizens claimed residency in South Korea.[9]
Present day
As at 2024 France and South Korea maintain good relations on major issues, in particular in relation to North Korea. France is one of the few European countries not to have official diplomatic relations with the DPRK. France has also supported the Six-party talks as well as the role of the IAEA in attempting to find a solution to the nuclear issue.[10] Besides bilateral cooperation, France and South Korea work together in international organizations such as the United Nations, UNESCO, the OECD. In 2020 the French government described its relations with South Korea as "excellent".[11]
However, at the opening in Paris of the 2024 Olympics, the large South Korean athletic representation was orally broadcast by the French commentator as coming from North Korea. The South Korean sports ministry immediately stated that it would make "strong complaint with France on a government level."[12]
Economic and cultural relations
Economic relations
Economic relations between the two nations are strong. French exports to South Korea were worth €2.6 billion Euros in 2006,[13] and France was the seventh largest investor in the Republic of Korea.[14] South Korean exports to France during the same period were worth €4.1 billion.[14]
Cultural relations
Cultural relations are enhanced by the presence of a French Cultural Centre in Korea,[15] along with that of the Alliance française.[16] One of the most prominent Korean scholars of French literature was Kim Bung-gu (1922~ 1991). As at 2007 there were approximately 7,000 South Koreans living in France (excluding Korean French adoptees), and 2,000 French people living in South Korea.[13]
^étrangères, Ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires. "Présentation de la Corée du Nord". France Diplomatie - Ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires étrangères (in French). Retrieved 2021-08-18.
Wertz, Daniel; Oh, JJ; Kim, Insung (August 2016). Issue Brief: DPRK Diplomatic Relations(PDF). The National Committee on North Korea. Archived from the original(PDF) on December 28, 2016. Retrieved January 19, 2017.
