Legarda urges continued PH support for agreement between 2 Koreas

Sen. Loren Legarda. (File photo by RICHARD A. REYES / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

The Philippines should continue to support efforts to achieve lasting peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula after the historic April 27 summit between South Korea and North Korea, according to Sen. Loren Legarda.

Legarda, who chairs the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, said the agreement reached between South Korea President Moon Jae-in and North Korea leader Kim Jong Un was a “huge step” to achieve peace in “one of the potentially most perilous sources of tension in the world today.”

“Last year, the Philippines called on North Korea to ‘commit to making meaningful progress towards the peaceful resolution of the issues facing the Korean Peninsula.’ The agreement forged by the leaders of North and South Korea at the recent summit to end decades of hostility and to rid the Korean Peninsula of nuclear weapons, is a huge step in this direction,” she said.

“The Philippines should continue extending its support and hand of assistance in whatever way, in order to help the Korean Peninsula, and the region at large, achieve lasting peace and stability,” she added.

Legarda recalled that the Philippines invited North Korea to participate in the Asean Regional Forum in Manila in November 2017, at the height of global condemnation of North Korea’s missile tests.

The Philippines hosted the 27-nation biggest security gathering in the region as chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

“We have always believed in promoting peace through dialogue and cooperation. This is what the Asean Regional Forum strives to achieve, of which North Korea is a participant,” Legarda said.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has yet to issue a statement on the South-North Korea summit. /atm