Marcos eyes bilateral meeting with South Korea president

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. on Monday said he is looking forward to meet and have a bilateral discussion with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.

Marcos mentioned this as he received the credentials of newly-designated Republic of Korea's Ambassador to the Philippines Lee Sang-hwa in a ceremony at the Reception Hall of Malacañang Palace.

Lee told Marcos that Yoon looks forward to visiting the Philippines this year or early next year as Seoul and Manila mark the 75th anniversary of their relations.

“That’s exactly the point our President Yoon Suk Yeol mentioned to me at the credential ceremony in Seoul. He 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 told Marcos.

In response, Marcos said he is looking forward to meeting the South Korean leader during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in November in the United States.

“Of course, there are many other conferences and I hope that maybe in November when we go to the United States for the APEC because I’m sure your President will attend, maybe we’ll have a chance to at least meet and have a bilateral meeting,” Marcos said.

“But after that, I think both sides now will be able to plan better. It’s been a busy year because we just finished our first year of this administration. So slowly, slowly, we are beginning to find ways to adjust our schedules to all these very important events that we are going through,” he added.

Meanwhile, Lee said South Korean National Assembly Speaker Kin Jin-Pyo and the South Korean Foreign Minister would visit the Philippines this year to meet their counterparts in order to enhance relations between the two countries.

The South Korean envoy also said South Korea "looks 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." —KBK, GMA Integrated News