This undated image, provided by the veterans ministry on Oct. 6, 2023, shows a sign for the “Road of Ralph Monclar” in Yangpyeong County, 52 kilometers east of Seoul. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Oct. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea will name a bike path at a Korean War battle site after a late French general next week, as part of a program to mark the 70th anniversary of the armistice that halted the 1950-53 Korean War, the veterans ministry said Friday.
The ministry plans to designate the 3.4-kilometer path in Yangpyeong County, 52 kilometers east of Seoul, as the “Road of Ralph Monclar” after the nickname of Raoul Charles Magrin-Vernerey, a lieutenant general who led a French battalion in the war.
The ceremony, which will take place in the county Monday, is part of the ministry’s cycling event in the area. It could draw some 3,000 people, including Veterans Minister Park Min-shik, officials from the French Embassy and cyclists from across the country.
The Chipyong-ni battle in the area took place from Feb. 13-15, 1951. French troops, along with U.S. soldiers, successfully fought against Chinese forces then allied with North Korean troops.
The event will mark the third one of its kind after those that commemorated Turkish and British Commonwealth troops in March and May, respectively.
The ministry has arranged the program to remember the sacrifices of troops from 22 countries that helped repel the Chinese-backed North Korean troops during the war.
During the Korean War, France dispatched 3,421 troops. Among them, 262 were killed, 1,008 were wounded, and 19 were taken as prisoners or went missing, according to the ministry.
(Yonhap)
