{"id":238418,"date":"2019-11-25T21:56:32","date_gmt":"2019-11-26T02:56:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=238418"},"modified":"2019-11-25T21:56:32","modified_gmt":"2019-11-26T02:56:32","slug":"solidarity-mutual-aid-hallmark-of-ph-sokor-ties-prrd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/11\/25\/solidarity-mutual-aid-hallmark-of-ph-sokor-ties-prrd\/","title":{"rendered":"Solidarity, mutual aid hallmark of PH-SoKor ties: PRRD"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and Republic of Korea President Moon Jae-in pose for posterity prior to the start of their bilateral meeting at The Westin Chosun Busan Hotel on November 25, 2019. ROBINSON NI\u00d1AL JR.\/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

BUSAN,\u00a0<\/strong>South Korea \u2013 President Rodrigo R. Duterte lauded the bond between the people of the Philippines and the Republic of Korea (ROK) that has never been strong in no other\u00a0time of both countries’ shared history.<\/p>\n

\u201cSolidarity and mutual aid have been the hallmark of our ties since 1950. It touches us that this remains so,\u201d Duterte said during the bilateral meeting with ROK President Moon Jae-in at the Westin\u00a0Chosun Busan Hotel\u00a0on Monday.<\/p>\n

Duterte did not miss the opportunity to thank the South Korean government for its USD100,000 donation for the victims of a series of earthquakes that rocked Mindanao in October.<\/p>\n

The past seven years, he said, have witnessed the rising level of both countries\u2019 interaction with cooperation encompassing various spheres — from trade, investment, and official development assistance (ODA) to infrastructure development, defense, science, technology, and agriculture.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur economies took diverging paths and fortunes. The Republic of Korea rose to become one of Asia’s economic and technological powerhouses. Ours faltered, but with perseverance, the Philippines has since recovered and is now [a] well-performing, emerging economy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He added that in 2018, ROK was Philippines\u2019 fourth-largest trading partner, with total trade amounting to over 13 billion dollars, and was a valued source of foreign direct investments, ranking 13th in the same year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Philippines and the Republic of Korea share a unique affinity. We became blood brothers in the 1950s on the altar of freedom. In 1980, the world watched as we waged a parallel struggle for democracy,\u201d Duterte said during the first day of the 2019 ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit here that marks the 30th anniversary of the ASEAN-ROK Dialogue Relations.<\/p>\n

As both countries commemorate 70 years of meaningful bilateral relations this year, Duterte assured that the Philippines will continue to find common cause and purpose with the Republic of Korea towards enhancing our bilateral engagement and promoting peace and stability in your region.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile,\u00a0<\/strong>South Korean President said Duterte\u2019s visit comes at a very meaningful time as the two countries celebrate their 70th<\/sup>\u00a0anniversary of diplomatic relations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Philippines was the first among ASEAN countries to establish diplomatic relations with Korea and also the first to dispatch troops to fight on our side during the Korean War,\u201d Jae-in said.<\/p>\n

The Philippines sent more than 7,000 soldiers to help defend South Korea from North Korean invasion from 1950 to 1953.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to express my profound gratitude to the people of the Philippines for their lasting friendship over the past 70 years and to you Mr. President (Duterte) for your great affection for Korea,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He added that the time is right for both countries to think about elevating its relations to a strategic partnership that will pave the way to engage in greater cooperation that will lead to common prosperity.<\/p>\n

Many cultural exchange events held in Korea, including concerts, film festivals, and exhibitions brought the Korean people closer to the Philippines after the two countries designated 2019 as the year of mutual exchanges during Duterte\u2019s visit in May last year, he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Korean people love the Philippines. Koreans are the number one visitors to the Philippines,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Department of Tourism\u2019s January-September 2019 report showed that Korea remains the biggest source of visitors for the Philippines, reaching 1,450,792 arrivals — 20.97 percent growth compared to the same period last year. Korean tourists make up 23.55 percent of the total tourist arrivals.<\/p>\n

Jae-in added that bilateral trade volume surpassed the 15 billion US dollar mark for the first time last year not to mention the numerous Korean companies are doing business in the Philippines, including in the fields of energy, electricity, electronics, textiles, shipbuilding.<\/p>\n

He lauded Duterte\u2019s leadership for making the Philippines as the future of ASEAN as it continues to achieve an impressive growth rate of 6 percent each year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope to strengthen my friendship with you and expand our bilateral cooperation to contribute further to the development of ASEAN,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Signed agreements<\/strong><\/p>\n

Duterte and Moon also witnessed the signing of three agreements that include the Social Security Agreement; Implementation Program of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Tourism Cooperation; and Joint Statement by the ROK and Philippines on the Early Achievement Package of the Negotiations of the Philippines-Korea Free Trade Agreement.<\/p>\n

Likewise, the MOU on Cooperation in Fisheries and MOU on Cooperation in the Field of Education were signed on the sidelines of the ceremony.<\/p>\n

Before their bilateral meeting, Duterte met with officials from various South Korean companies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BUSAN,\u00a0South Korea \u2013 President Rodrigo R. Duterte lauded the bond between the people of the Philippines and the Republic of …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":238419,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-238418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-gigie-arcilla","mauthors-azer-parrocha","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238418"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238418\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":238420,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238418\/revisions\/238420"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}