In the course of the two-day ASEAN-Republic of Korea Commemorative Summit in Busan, South Korea, various meaningful exchanges have taken place between the Philippines and South Korea. As a manifestation of South Korea’s upbeat perception on the Philippines, President Moon Jae In labeled it as the “future of ASEAN.” “The Philippines is the future of ASEAN as it continues to achieve an impressive growth rate of 6% each year . . . thanks to your outstanding leadership through our meeting today. I hope to strengthen my friendship with you and expand our bilateral cooperation to contribute further to the development of the ASEAN,” remarked President Moon in Korean language. In light of his motherland’s close affinity with South Korea, President Rodrigo Duterte described the latter country as the Philippines’s “blood brother.” “The past seven years, decades have witnessed the level of our interaction rise. Our cooperation encompasses various spheres, from trade, investment and order, to infrastructure development, defense, science, technology, and agriculture,” President Duterte expressed.
There have been four agreements inked so far, which involved the following: social security, implementing program for tourism cooperation joint statement on the progress of Philippine-Republic of Korea free trade agreement, education, and fisheries.
With respect to national security, the Department of National Defense and South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration have signed up for the provision of additional military hardware to the Philippines.
An embodiment of the defense alliance of the two nations is BRP Jose Rizal which was designed in South Korea and has already undergone sea trial.
The Philippine defense arm expects that in December 2019, the contract on the Philippines’s purchase of two South Korean corvettes is sealed. Said armed vessels will ignite the Philippines’s monitoring on the Sulu Sea.
The DND guaranteed the Philippines’s support to South Korea with regard to peace and nuclear disarmament of the Korean peninsula.
