MANILA, (PNA) — President Benigno S. Aquino III will leave this week for a two-day state visit to the Republic of Korea to further boost ties between the two countries, as well as attract more investments to the Philippines.
President Aquino will visit South Korea on October 17 and October 18, his first since he assumed office in June 2010, upon the invitation of South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye.
During the press briefing in Malacanang, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Raul Hernandez said the President will be the first leader to undertake a state visit to Korea since President Park took office in February this year.
“The two leaders will hold their first summit meeting to discuss bilateral issues such as political dialogue, defense cooperation, trade and investments relations, official development assistance, consular and labor cooperation and people-to-people exchanges as well as regional issues among others,” he said.
President Aquino and President Park will also witness the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the defense ministries of the Philippines and Korea concerning cooperation in the field of defense.
“It will cover a wide range of cooperation from exchange of visits by military personnel and experts to humanitarian assistance and international peacekeeping activities,” Hernandez said.
On the second day of his visit to South Korea, President Aquino will meet with the Korean business community including executives of leading Korean conglomerates to discuss investment opportunities in the Philippines.
Korea is the 3rd largest economy in Asia and the 13th in the world in 2012. It is also one of the Philippines’ major investment and trade partners with the bilateral trade amounting to US$ 7.408 billion last year. Korea remains the country’s top source of tourists reaching more than one million in 2012.
During his visit there, President Aquino will also have a chance to meet with the Filipino community living and working in Seoul. During the said event, the President will confer the Order of Lakandula on Representative Jasmine Bacurnay-Lee of the Korean National Assembly.
Representative Lee, who hails from Cavite and Davao City, is the first naturalized Korean to be elected to the National Assembly. “The award is in recognition of this achievement, as well as her advocacies in promoting migrant women’s rights and multiculturalism,” Hernandez said.
The Philippines and Republic of Korea established relations in March 1949. During the Korean War in 1950, the Philippine Expeditionary Forces to Korea joined the UN-led coalition in defending the freedom of the Korean people. Until today, both countries recognize this as the bedrock of Philippine-Korean relations.
The President’s visit to South Korea is his third trip for this month. Last week, the President embarked on a five-day trip to Indonesia and Brunei to attend the 21st Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit and the 23rd Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit, respectively.