Ministry of Foreign Affairs Urges Tourist Safety Amid France Protests... "Avoid Visiting Paris Outskirts"

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged on the 4th for special caution regarding personal safety, expressing concern over the safety of Korean tourists due to violent protests occurring throughout France.

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

At the regular briefing on the same day, Deputy Spokesperson Lim said that in relation to the violent protests in France, notices about personal safety are being posted on the local embassy's website, and safety text messages are being sent to Korean nationals visiting France to guide them to pay special attention to their personal safety.

The Embassy of the Republic of Korea in France posted a "Special Safety Notice for Personal Safety" on its website on the 3rd, stating, "Incidents threatening the safety of foreigners traveling in France are occurring," and requested that visitors refrain from visiting the outskirts of Paris and selecting accommodations in those areas as much as possible. If visiting the outskirts of Paris is unavoidable, they asked to observe precautions such as ▲ being cautious of armed robbery during boarding and alighting ▲ refraining from going out during nighttime or other times when there are few people around ▲ informing acquaintances of their destination when going out.

Since the incident on the 27th of last month where a teenage boy of Algerian descent was shot and killed by police, large-scale protests have continued in France. The violent protests are also spreading to neighboring countries such as Belgium and Switzerland.

Regarding the recent incident where a bus carrying Korean tourists was attacked by armed robbers, Deputy Spokesperson Lim said, "It is largely unrelated to the violent protests in France." According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, around 11 p.m. local time on the 30th of last month, in front of a hotel near Charles de Gaulle Airport, while Korean tourists were getting off the bus and retrieving their luggage, a group of three masked robbers is estimated to have snatched the bags containing passports and cards from four Korean nationals.