President Moon Jae-in (left) attends summit talks with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Nov. 13 at the Philippine International Convention Center in Manila.
By Jeon Han and Yoon Sojung
Photos = Yonhap News
President Moon Jae-in held a summit meeting with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Nov. 13 at the Philippine International Convention Center in Manila.
The two leaders agreed to make concerted efforts to further develop bilateral ties.
President Moon said, “As I already made clear through the dispatch of a special envoy to ASEAN immediately after my inauguration, I hope to bolster the Korea-ASEAN relationship to bring it to the top level.” “Among the ASEAN states, the Philippines is the first country with which Korea built a diplomatic relationship, and it has been our ally with which we have shared a special relationship, as it was the first Asian country to send troops during the Korean War,” said President Moon.
“I hope to lift our relationship with the Philippines to a higher level,” he said.
President Moon told his Philippine counterpart that, “In order to substantially develop the outcomes that both countries have achieved, I would like to actively cooperate with the ongoing 10 social and economic agenda items on which President Duterte has been working.”
“With the governments and peoples of the two countries, we can create exemplary cooperative cases that will be mutually beneficial,” he said.
Mentioning Korean tourists in the Philippines and the popularity of Korean TV and pop music there, President Moon said, “I'm glad to see them, as this shows the close, deepening understanding and friendship that exists among the two peoples.”
“I hope we can make joint efforts to strengthen such trends,” he said.
President Moon Jae-in (left) poses for a photo with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte ahead of a summit at the Philippine International Convention Center in Manila on Nov. 13.
President Duterte said, “I hope that our bilateral relationship will lift mutual cooperation to a higher level than it was in the past across various areas, including trade and investment.”
“The Philippines has always supported Korea and has maintained the friendship for a long time,” said the Philippine president.
“We also share a good business relationship and hope to strengthen that in the future,” said the Philippine leader.
hanjeon@korea.kr
