Philippines, RoK agree to strengthen bilateral ties

President of the Republic of Korea (RoK) Moon Jae-in (Photo: www.philstar.com)

Hanoi (VNA) – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and President of the Republic of Korea (RoK) Moon Jae-in on November 13 agreed to enhance bilateral ties and discussed measures to protect people of the two countries.

According to the RoK presidential palace, at the meeting on the sidelines of the 31st ASEAN Summit held in the Philippines’ capital city of Manila, President Moon voiced his hope to strengthen ties with the Philippines, a long time partner of the country and also ASEAN Chair this year.

The Philippine President also committed to supporting RoK efforts to seek peaceful measures to ease tension in the Korean Peninsula involving the nuclear and missile programme of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

He also vowed to support the vision of ASEAN-RoK community that Moon declared during the ASEAN-RoK Summit earlier the same day.

The two leaders also pledged to ensure safety for RoK people in the Philippines and vice versa.

The Philippines was the first nation in Southeast Asia to establish diplomatic relations with the RoK in March 1949. There were about 90,000 Korean people living in the Philippines and 57,000 Filipinos in the RoK as of late 2016. -VNA