`Love and War` in Elysee Palace

Korea has a popular television series that has run for more than a decade even without star actors or idol stars. It is KBS 2 TV’s “Love and War,” which started in 1999. Based on real stories ranging from an affair to the conflict between in-laws, the program has attracted a group of avid viewers. A scandal that could beat the unimaginable episodes of the program has occurred in France.

A man has four children with a 30-year-long partner. He separated from her and had a new relationship with his second partner, saying, “She is my love of life.” Later it turned out that he had an affair with another woman. The enraged partner was hospitalized and the two eventually parted ways. Rumor has it that she trashed more than four million dollar worth of French antique. The man in the French version of “Love and War” is French President Francoise Hollande.

Regardless of a private citizen or a president, living together before marriage is not an issue in France. Couples can be categorized into three groups legally: married couples, unmarried couples, and a civil solidarity pact, called a pacte civil de solidarité, or PACS. The number of PACS couples has been soaring since the passage of the law that granted the social and legal status to de-facto marriage in 1999. The number of married couples and PACS couples standing at 305,234 and 22,271 in 2000, respectively, reached 251,654 and 205,558 in 2010.

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy divorced his wife in five months after his inauguration. During his presidency, he divorced his wife and then married to his third wife Carla Bruni. Sarkozy, who had been criticized for his personal life from Hollande during the presidential campaign, fired back to Hollande this time when the latter`s affair was reported, saying, “He made presidency funny.” Hollande is losing popularity as he is under fire for tarnishing France’s image. As the “Love and War” in the Elysee Palace is coming to an end, the French people’s belief of the separation between politics and personal life seems to be shaking a little.

Editorial Writer Koh Mi-seok (mskoh119@donga.com)