While France is just one of two European countries yet to formally recognize North Korea, a number of groups there have been hard working to change this point since the late 1960s.

Indeed, formal recognition of the North Korean state has for some been a major objective for some time: Former President François Mitterrand (who toured North Korea in 1981) actually promised recognition to Pyongyang before he was elected.

But that was more than 30 years ago.

Today, even with the opening of a French Cooperation Bureau in Pyongyang in 2011, there has been little progress in improving France-DPRK ties,