The French Embassy in Korea committed 100,000 euros to help pay for the maintenance of a recently refurbished war memorial in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, dedicated to French volunteers who fought alongside other United Nations soldiers during the Korean War.

The memorial honoring the French military and the support France lent to South Korea during the Korean War was originally built near the place where French troops were stationed during the war in Jangan-gu, on a modest hill close to Yeongdong Expressway’s North Suwon exit in October 1974.

Some 3,400 French Foreign Legion troopers fought under the French Battalion of the United Nations during the course of the war. Of these, 287 were killed in action, 1,350 wounded, and seven went missing. Twelve became prisoners of war.

French Ambassador to Korea Jerome Pasquier unveiled the sum in a ceremony with Suwon Mayor Yeom Tae-young on July 16 in Suwon. It was one of a multitude of recent events commemorating the 60th anniversary of the cease-fire agreement that halted the fighting but has yet to result in a formal peace treaty.

The cease-fire was signed by the United States, China and North Korea, but not South Korea. Although punctuated by pugnacious spats between North and South, the complicated arrangement has secured an uneasy peace for decades.

After the cease-fire in 1953, the French battalion also fought in the waning years of French involvement in Vietnam and Algeria in the 1950s.

(ephilip2011@heraldcorp.com)