Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 10) – South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol will visit the Philippines either this year or in early 2024, the country’s ambassador-designate Lee Sang-Hwa said Monday, as cited by the Presidential Communications Office.
“He [Yoon] 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 was quoted as telling President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during a meeting in Malacañang.
South Korea’s National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-Pyo and Foreign Minister Park Jin are also set to visit the country in 2023 to meet with their Filipino counterparts in the legislature and the Department of Foreign Affairs, the envoy said.
The visits are eyed to strengthen the alliance between the two nations.
Lee told Marcos “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.”
The South Korean envoy also agreed with Marcos’ sentiment that improved Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) alliances would strengthen security and defense in the Asia Pacific region.
“There are comprehensive regional strategy as ASEAN takes a centerstage and the Philippines strategic importance has heightened significantly,” Lee said.
He also said that South Korea was interested in the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant and its possible energy generation, adding that Seoul had submitted a “proposal for a joint feasibility study.”
Meanwhile, Marcos said he hopes to meet with Yeol at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in the United States this November alongside the 19 other member economies.
