Repatriation plan ready should Korean peninsula tension worsen

The Department of Labor and Employment on Saturday said that the agency is ready with its repatriation plan for Filipino workers in South Korea if the north-south tension worsens. 

In an interview on radio dzBB, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said that even though the level of tension is still low, contingency plans are in place for Filipinos in the Korean peninsula.

"Meron na kaming usapan ni Labor Attaché Luz Talento before midnight last night she gave me an update and then this morning dahil papunta akong airport to go to Mindanao, nag-report na ulit siya, may tension pero level 1 pa lang," Bello said.

"Level 1 pa lang yung sa South Korea pero sabi ko nga kahit level 1 ay dapat handa na tayo, kaya meron na kaming repatriation program just in case kailangan talaga i-repatriate sila. Pero sabi naman ni labor associate Talento medyo remote pa yung possibility, yung actual conflict," he added.

North Korea had said that it tested an advanced hydrogen bomb at its Punggyre-ri nuclear test site, prompting a warning of a "massive" military response from the United States if it or its allies were threatened.

Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said that the Philippines has complied with a United Nations resolution that imposes tougher economic sanctions against North Korea for defying international calls to abandon its nuclear program and for its continued ballistic missile testing. —Marlly Rome Bondoc/LBG, GMA News