Philippines, S Korea to hold 1st joint war game amid China tension
The Philippines and South Korea have agreed to hold their first-ever joint military exercise, in a move seen as countering China’s rising assertiveness in the region.
The new joint exercise was announced following talks between South Korean Defence Minister Lee Jong-sup and his Philippine counterpart Delfin Lorenzana in Seoul on Friday.
The Defence Ministry in Seoul said the exercise will be held in October and involve South Korean marines. No other details were provided.
Lorenzana and Lee also exchanged views on the situations in the South China Sea and Korean peninsula, Philippines' Department of National Defence (DND) said.
Manila and Beijing are locked in a territorial dispute over islands in the South China Sea, despite an international tribunal ruling in favour of the Philippines in 2016. China is aggressively asserting its claim to almost all of the South China Sea which is disputed by five Asean countries.
Both ministers reaffirmed that freedom of navigation and overflight as well as respect for international law must be upheld at all times.
Lorenzana also reiterated the Philippines’ call for “complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation” of North Korea, the same week that Manila condemned North Korea’s latest ballistic missile tests.
Lorenzana also thanked Lee for South Korea’s support for the Philippines’ military modernisation programme.
As part of his official visit, Lorenzana also signed a memorandum of understanding with Park Min-shik of the Patriot and Veterans Affairs Ministry, which will further deepen cooperation between military veterans in both countries. June is marked as “patriots and veterans” month in South Korea.
Manila and Seoul’s security ties have flourished in the decades since the Philippines deployed troops during the Korean War in the 1950s.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
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