SEOUL - The appointment of Fleur Pellerin as France's first SouthKorean-born minister has prompted soul searching over social valuesin the country of her birth where she was adopted at the age of sixmonths. Media and the ruling party said her appointment was a testament toFrench tolerance that South Korea could learn a lesson from, amidgrowing controversy over discrimination against immigrants andtheir children in the Asian nation. President Francois Hollande has named 38-year-old technocrat as theminister in charge of small and medium enterprises and the digitaleconomy. Newspapers in Seoul on Friday splashed frontpages with her pictureand carried stories about her life while the ruling New FrontierParty expressed hope her appointment will help cement friendly tiesbetween Seoul and Paris. In a play on her first name, the Hankook Ilbo daily said Pellerin,born in Seoul and adopted by French parents at the age of sixmonths, had finally "bloomed as a flower in Paris" after being"abandoned" in South Korea. The independent Hankyoreh Daily said editorially Saturday thatPellerin was a good example of France's success in integratingpeople of foreign origin and a "testament to the country'sprogressive values." "Unfortunately, when it comes to adoption, there is littledifference between the Korea of 1974, from which Pellerin wasadopted, and Korea today," the daily said, noting that South Korearemains one of the leading sources of babies for overseas adoption. While rejoicing in the fact that an ethnic Korean has become aFrench minister, it said, South Koreans should also pay heed to"the soundness of French society which raised one child with skinof a different color and an unfortunate background to become aminister." "We need to take a hard critical look at ourselves as we ostraciseand assault others on the basis of the cursory differences in skincolour or sexual preference," the Hankyoreh added. Controversy is growing over discriminations against immigrants andtheir offspring in schools and workplaces in South Korea amid agrowing number of international marriages. In a statement Friday, the ruling New Frontier Party also saidSouth Korea should learn from Pellerin's case and France's effortsto provide equal opportunity to all its people regardless of theirorigins. "We hope her appointment will help cement friendly and cooperativeties between two countries," the NFP said. "We pay respect to Minister Pellerin who has overcome adversitieswith an unbending spirit," it said. "We also need to learn from France's social system which guaranteesequal opportunities to all its people, regardless whether they wereadopted or immigrated," it added. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as China Levitation Display , China Floating Bottle Display for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Floating Photo Frame.
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