<img src="https://img.lemde.fr/2023/08/03/0/0/5785/3736/664/0/75/0/4772163_1691042696416-000-33la3ur.jpg" srcset=" https://img.lemde.fr/2023/08/03/0/0/5785/3736/556/0/75/0/4772163_1691042696416-000-33la3ur.jpg 556w, https://img.lemde.fr/2023/08/03/0/0/5785/3736/600/0/75/0/4772163_1691042696416-000-33la3ur.jpg 600w, https://img.lemde.fr/2023/08/03/0/0/5785/3736/664/0/75/0/4772163_1691042696416-000-33la3ur.jpg 664w, https://img.lemde.fr/2023/08/03/0/0/5785/3736/700/0/75/0/4772163_1691042696416-000-33la3ur.jpg 700w, https://img.lemde.fr/2023/08/03/0/0/5785/3736/800/0/75/0/4772163_1691042696416-000-33la3ur.jpg 800w" sizes="(min-width: 1024px) 556px, 100vw" alt="French Brigadier General Marc Le Bouil, head of the Pegase 2023 mission, speaks to the media during a stopover at Paya Lebar air base in Singapore on June 28, 2023, as part of the " pegase="" 23"="" training="" operation."="" width="100%" height="auto">
North Korea has not taken kindly to the South Korean leg of France's "Pegasus 2023" military mission. In a Wednesday, August 2, statement by the official KCNA news agency, Ryu Kyong Chol, a researcher at the Korea-Europe Association – a North Korean organization – criticized "an irresponsible move that further raises already-high tensions on the Korean peninsula" and "a provocation that threatens the North's security interests of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in support of Washington's hostile policy."
It is rare for North Korean media to take aim specifically at France. Publication of the statement follows the participation, from July 24 to 26 at Gimhae Air Base in Busan, South Korea, of the French air and space force in its first-ever training with its South Korean counterpart.
Air-to-air refueling exercises took place, as well as a flypast organized in conjunction with the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the armistice that suspended fighting in the Korean War (1950-1953), in which a French battalion took part. "We share a common history and today we wish to perpetuate our partnership," said the French colonel in charge of the exercise.
The exceptional French military presence is a reminder that Paris continues to participate in the United Nations (UN) mission in the south of the peninsula. Bilateral security cooperation is based on a cooperation agreement signed in 1990, reinforced in 1996 by the establishment of strategic dialog and, at an operational level, by annual staff meetings since 2001.
French ships have been mooring at South Korean ports for several years, the last time being when the frigate Prairial called at Busan in April. France is also involved in the UN mission to monitor illegal activities by North Korea to circumvent the sanctions imposed on it. Paris systematically condemns North Korea's missile launches and nuclear tests.
A stopover in this country for some of the 19 aircraft – Rafale, A330 MRTT Phénix tankers and A400M Atlas transport aircraft – mobilized for the 2023 edition of the "Pegasus" mission in the Indo-Pacific from June 25 to August 3, therefore seemed logical. "There is a strong desire in South Korea to work in common fields," said General Marc Le Bouil, commander of the mission, which in his eyes remains "a technical feat, having shown that France wants to work with all countries, in line with its Indo-Pacific strategy."
The French deployment also coincides with efforts by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to develop security cooperation with NATO and Western nations in the face of the North Korean threat.
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