SOUTH Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol looks forward to visiting the Philippines this year or early next year as the two countries mark the 75th anniversary of their relationship, South Korean Ambassador-designate Lee Sang-Hwa said on Monday.
Ambassador Lee made the remarks during the presentation of his credentials to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. in Malacanang.
“That’s exactly the point our President Yoon Suk Yeol mentioned to me at the credential ceremony in Seoul. He really, 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 President Marcos.
The President responded by saying he 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,” the President said.
“But after that, I think both sides now will be able to plan better. It’s been a busy year because we just finished our first year of this administration. So slowly, slowly, we are beginning to find ways to adjust our schedules to all these very important events that we are going through,” he added.
Ambassador Lee also told the President that South Korean National Assembly Speaker Kin Jin-Pyo and the South Korean Foreign Minister will visit the country this year to meet their counterparts to further strengthen relations.
According to Marcos, his administration has put in place some of the basic and important policies in its initial year in office that will help the transformation of the Philippine economy.
He expressed hope that in the post-pandemic world, and with the strong partnerships and alliance with countries like South Korea, “I think we can always look forward to a better future and stronger alliance.”
He also mentioned regional developments such as the ASEAN alliances are taking a more dominant role in terms of security and defense.
“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 noted.
The South Korean ambassador said he completely concurred with the President, noting, “(o)f course, there are comprehensive regional strategy (as) ASEAN takes a centerstage and the Philippines strategic importance has heightened significantly.”
“So we look forward to elevating our relationship formally to strategic partnership at an appropriate time including many, many areas security and defense cooperation, trade and investment, and people-to-people exchanges,” he stated.
Lee also reiterated South Korea’s commitment to the Philippines on energy cooperation, noting his country is keenly interested in Bataan Nuclear Power Plant energy generation.
“We presented, submitted our proposal for joint feasibility study,” he said.
