Kim Jong Un. AFP FILE PHOTO
SINGAPORE — Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said on Friday night that President Duterte and other Asian leaders were relieved over the historic move of leaders of North and South Korea to end their conflict and talk peace.
“Everyone is relieved because we were all looking at the prospects of a nuclear encounter in our backyard,” Roque told reporters, noting that whenever North Korea tests its missiles, it would land in Philippine waters.
Roque said it was “almost sure” that leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, now gathered here for a summit, would “express relief over this development.”
He also said it was like the Asean leaders would congratulate the effort of the two Korean leaders to talk peace “as an encouragement to proceed with the talks.”
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in had pledged to work towards the “complete denuclearization” of the Korean peninsula and the signing of a peace treaty this year in the conclusion of their historic summit on Friday.