PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Monday, June 4, lauded Korean President Moon Jae-in for his commitment to bringing "peace, stability, and prosperity" to Korean Peninsula by pushing for a complete denucluarization of the region.
Duterte was grateful over Moon's historic move to sign an agreement with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in April to work towards a "common goal" of achieving the "complete denuclearization" of the Korean Peninsula.
During the Inter-Korean summit in front of the Peace House in Panmunjom, South Korea on April 27, Moon and Kim signed a declaration that seeks to establish "peace, prosperity, and unification" of the Korean peninsula.
"I commended President Moon for his vision of bringin peace, stability, and prosperity to the Korean peninsula. His selfless dedication is demonstrated by the historic Inter-Korean Summit (in April), which resulted in the (signing of the declaration),'" Duterte said in a joint statement delivered in Seoul, Korea.
"The Philippines is hopeful that positive developments over the past seceral months will continue and contribute positively toward the goal of the denuclearization in [the] Korean peninsula," he added.
Moon, for his part, acknowledged Duterte's "keen interest" in efforts to achieve complete denuclearization and permanent peace of the Korean Peninsula.
The South Korean leader also believed that Duterte's "strong support" would contribute to South Korea's desire to maintain peace in the region.
"His support will be of great help to us on our journey to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula. Our two countries will further strengthen our cooperation and that goes beyond the Peninsula to uphold peace in the region, he said.
On April 28, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said Duterte was "very much relieved" with the recent developments concerning the Korean peninsula, since the Philippines is among the countries that may be hit by North Korea's nuclear tests.
North Korea's missile program has progressed over the decares, raising worry among its neighboring nations, including the Philippines.
"Of course everyone is relieved because we are all looking at the past prospects of a nuclear encounter in our backyard," Roque earlier said. "So (Duterte is) very much relieved. As you know, whenever they test their missiles, it always lands in Philippine waters." (VoxPop Philippines)
