Grenoble connection

By Kim Se-jeong

Genevieve Fioraso

What would Genevieve Fioraso, French minister for high education and research, have said to President Park Geun-hye as the latter greeted envoys from all over the world attending her inauguration?

Chances are that Fioraso may have mentioned Grenoble which could possibly send Korea’s first female president on a momentary trip down memory lane about her short stay in the capital of the French Alps.

In 1974, Park enrolled at the University of Grenoble.

She was studying French language in preparation for a post-graduate program in electronic engineering. But her stay was cut short by the assassination of her mother, Yuk Young-soo, compelling her to return home.

Grenoble is the adopted home for Fioraso. She quit her job as an English teacher in Amiens and moved there in 1978.

She moved up the political ladder in the city; and French President Francois Holland appointed her as minister last May.

It’s anybody’s guess whether France has carefully selected Fioraso on this mission to gain an inside track with President Park. Even if it did, it would not be anything surprising because, if one looks up European history books, it isn’t hard to find similar cases.

It would be of great help to have links with people in power. Remember France beat long odds and won the billion-dollar contract to sell high-speed trains to Korea. From the position of France, not included among the top four powers, it is natural to go the extra mile to make up for the lack of its influence with connections.

France is also sending Fleur Pellerin, deputy minister for small and medium enterprises, to Korea next month. Pellerin is a Korean orphan adopted by a French couple and is emerging as a darling of the media to assuage the collective conscience of Korea, shamed in the past for putting babies up for foreign adoption.