1. First Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam, together with Undersecretary for Policy Enrique A. Manalo of the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, held the sixth Republic of Korea-Philippines policy consultation in Seoul on October 28. In the meeting, the two sides exchanged views on a wide range of matters, including ways to step up substantive cooperation in the sectors of economy, trade and infrastructure as well as consular cooperation, including in protecting the ROK nationals in the Philippines; the North Korean nuclear issue and the situation on the Korean Peninsula; and ways to work together on regional and global stages.

2. The Vice Minister and the Undersecretary noted with appreciation that since forging diplomatic relations in 1949 and by building on their shared values such as democracy and market economy, the ROK and the Philippines have seen their friendly and cooperative ties advance across the board, including national defense and relevant industry, trade, investment and infrastructure. They agreed to the further deepen such ties during the tenure of the new Philippine government.

3. Vice Minister Lim highlighted the importance of protecting each other’s nationals amid robust people-to-people exchanges; expressed concern over the recent series of violent crimes against ROK nationals in the Philippines; and asked the Philippine government to pay close attention and render assistance to efforts to better ensure the safety of the ROK nationals in the country.

4. The Vice Minister extended appreciation to the Philippine government for issuing a statement of condemnation in response to the recent series of provocations by North Korea, including nuclear tests and missile launches, and for taking an active part in pressuring North Korea, including by implementing relevant Security Council resolutions. Calling North Korea’s nuclear threat more grave and urgent than ever before, he voiced hope to work more closely on the North Korean nuclear issue with the Philippines, the ASEAN chair for 2017, on the bilateral and multilateral levels.

° Undersecretary Manalo, expressing support for the ROK’s position on the North Korean nuclear issue, mentioned that the Philippines will work closely with the ROK on the issue on the bilateral and multilateral levels.

5. With the year 2017 marking the historical 50th anniversary of the founding of ASEAN, the vice ministers exchanged views on ways for the two countries to step up cooperation at ASEAN. The two sides agreed to further increase cultural and people-to-people exchanges between the ROK and ASEAN through the ASEAN Culture House to be opened in 2017, the “year of the ROK-ASEAN exchanges.”

6. The Vice Minister and the Undersecretary exchanged views on the foreign policy of the new Philippine government, launched in June 2016, as well as situations in the South China Sea and other regions of the world. They agreed to exchange information on issues concerning the Korean Peninsula, the South China Sea, diverse other regions of the world and global community as a whole.

7. The first ROK-Philippines policy consultation since the Presidents of the two countries had agreed at their summit talks on the sidelines the APEC meeting in 2015 to hold the policy consultation on a regular basis and since the launch of the new Philippine government, is seen to have served as an opportunity to discuss ways to increase cooperation across the board and to further step up coordination on North Korean issues with the new Philippine government.


* unofficial translation