OpinionsEcon 101SoKor love Philippines

SoKor love Philippines

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South Korean President Moon Jae-in expressed his people’s love for the Philippines through President Duterte stating: ”The Korean people love the Philippines. Koreans are the number one visitors to the Philippines,” as both leaders called for stronger ties between Manila and Seoul, elevating relations to strategic partnership.

President Duterte was in Busan to attend the ASEAN-Republic of Korea Commemorative Summit held on Nov. 25 to 26. Both leaders reaffirmed the need to work closer together to address traditional and emerging threats, again [including] terrorism, transnational crimes and piracy at sea, as the Philippines counts on South Korea as a steady partner in modernizing its key assets in defense, security, law enforcement, and the rule of law.

More than 20 agreements were signed between South Korean and the Philippine companies, projected to generate an estimated of $4.8 billion in investments.

Both the Philippines and South Korea honored their joint sacrifices in defense of freedom and democracy in the Korean Peninsula.

The two countries look forward to the landmark 70th anniversary of their relations next year, vowing to work together to make the occasion memorable.

Historically, bilateral relations between the two countries started on 3 March 1949 when the Philippines became the fifth country to recognize the Republic of Korea, which was inaugurated on 15 August 1948.

The friendship was cemented by our deployment of the Philippine Expeditionary Force to Korea (PEFtoK) during the Korean War in the 1950s to help South Korea defend itself from the invasion of the North.

After the armistice, the Republic of Korea sent its first ambassador to the Philippines on 19 January 1954, and the Philippines established a legation in their Republic.

The relationship blossomed in the course of the decades through cooperation in both bilateral and multilateral fronts.

What’s remarkable is how quickly South Korea became one of the most advanced economies in the world. In 1960, the average South Korean was poorer than the average person in Senegal, Honduras, or the Philippines.

Today, they are more than 10 times richer. How did that happen? What was the secret? And are there lessons for countries that don’t have much Gangnam style?

It was the decisions of the South Korean government after 1960 that made the difference, especially those associated with President Chung-hee who believed that industrialization was the best path to economic success; and he was right: factories are almost always more profitable than fields.

In the beginning, this meant assembling goods designed in Japan, and light industry such as wig making. But the results were impressive–the South Korean economy was growing at nine percent a year by the mid-1960s, and exports by 29 percent.

The government invested in heavy industry–steel, petrochemicals, cars, electronics, and shipbuilding. The result was even greater profitability for South Korean companies, and rising wealth and living standards for almost everyone.

Nowadays, South Korea boasts of being home to some of the world’s most respected companies, notably Hyundai, Samsung, and LG.

South Korea is very different from the country it was in 1960. With more than three billion views, Gangnam Style has done more to put South Korea on the map than anything else. The video portrays South Korea as confident, stylish, and prosperous. And how they captured the world with their telenovelas and K-pop!

Whatever happened to the Philippines?

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Author’s email: [email protected]

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