South Korean president set to visit Philippines – envoy

MANILA — The prime minister of Japan and the president of South Korea are expected to visit the Philippines this year, their ambassadors have revealed.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will visit the Philippines by the end of the year “to forge even closer ties and lasting partnerships,” Japanese Ambassador Kazuhiko Koshikawa said on July 7 during a reception for the 69th founding anniversary of the Japan Self-Defense Forces.

The ambassador said Japan is also looking forward to President Marcos’ participation in the celebration of the 50th anniversary of
ASEAN-Japan friendship in Tokyo in December.

“With the swiftly changing tides in the global environment, the defense and security cooperation between Japan and the Philippines is becoming all the more significant. We are directing all our focus in generating concrete measures that would further deepen our defense partnership,” he said.

Marcos visited Japan in February after he and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reached an agreement on allowing the United States more access to Philippine military bases.

Meanwhile, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is expected to visit the Philippines this year or early next year as the two countries seek to strengthen their bilateral relations, Ambassador Lee Sang-hwa said on July 10.

Lee made the remarks during the presentation of his credentials to President Marcos at Malacañang.

“He (Yoon) really looks forward to visiting this very country Philippines. But if not this year, I’m sure sometime in the first half of next year as we mark our 75th anniversary,” Lee told Marcos.

The Philippines and South Korea will celebrate the 75th anniversary of their diplomatic ties in 2024.

In response to Lee, Marcos said he also looks forward to meeting the South Korean leader during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in November.

“Of course, there are many other conferences and I hope that maybe in November when we go to the United States for the APEC because I’m sure your President will attend, maybe we’ll have a chance to at least meet and have a bilateral meeting,” Marcos said.

Apart from Yoon, Lee said South Korean National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo and the South Korean foreign minister are also set to visit the country this year to meet their counterparts.

Marcos said he looks forward to stronger partnership and alliance with countries like South Korea, particularly in the areas of security and defense as the world recovers from the pandemic.

“It is the first time that we will have joint exercises with the ASEAN member-nations. And slowly I think that this is starting to stabilize the security and defense situation in our region,” he told the South Korean envoy.

Lee said South Korea also hopes to strengthen ties between the two countries in many areas, including security and defense cooperation, trade and investment and people-to-people exchanges.

The ambassador likewise reiterated his country’s commitment to the Philippines on energy cooperation, noting that South Korea is keenly interested in Bataan Nuclear Power Plant energy generation.

“We presented, submitted our proposal for joint feasibility study,” he told Marcos.

The two countries’ total trade reached $15.44 billion in 2022, making South Korea the Philippines’ fourth largest trading partner.

In the same period, exports were valued at $3.13 billion (seventh largest export destination) and imports were valued at $12.31 billion (fourth largest import source).

In terms of defense, among the Philippines’ key procurement projects from South Korea are two 2,600-ton multimillion frigates, 12 units of FA-50 aircraft for the Philippine Air Force and a Pohang-class corvette for the Philippine Navy.

In addition, the defense department signed last year a P30-billion contract with Hyundai Heavy Industries for the purchase of six offshore patrol vessels for the Philippine Navy, with the first delivery in 2025. (philstar)