12 June 2023, SEOUL - To commemorate the 125th anniversary of Philippine Independence and Nationhood, the Embassy led by Philippine Ambassador to the Republic of Korea Ma. Theresa Dizon-De Vega hosted a diplomatic reception on 8 June 2023 at the Grand Hyatt, Seoul. Some 200 members of the diplomatic corps, business sector, academe, and ROK government officials joined the Philippines in celebrating 125 years of independence.

In her remarks, Ambassador Dizon-De Vega paid tribute to the enduring partnership between the Philippines and the Republic of Korea, "From standing shoulder-to-shoulder during the Korean War to our constantly evolving and progressive engagement in the political, security, defense, economic, cultural, labor, tourism, and people-to-people areas - ours is both a historic and dynamic partnership."

"In the past twelve months since the last celebration of our National Day, Philippines-Korea relations have never been more robust," the Ambassador added. She underscored that both nations continue close cooperation on various fronts, including established official dialogue mechanisms for renewed cooperation in the Maritime, Fisheries, and Science and Technology areas and reinvigorated exchanges from several Ministerial-level visits, Parliamentary Delegations, Local Government visits, cultural cooperation, and investment missions, as well as Minister-level and Leaders-level engagements between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and President Yoon Seok-Yul and Foreign Minister Enrique Manalo and Foreign Minister Park Jin.

Ambassador Dizon-De Vega also renewed the Philippines' commitment as a long-standing friend and partner of the Republic of Korea especially in promoting inclusivity, "The Philippines renews its commitment to work closely with our Korean partners and friends as well as other countries in promoting greater inclusiveness and multiculturalism as we embrace both the things that make us unique and those which unite us."

The reception was made special by the attendance of Guest of Honor Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Political Affairs Choi Youngsam. Deputy Minister Choi extended his congratulations in behalf of the people and the government of the Republic of Korea. He lauded Ambassador Dizon-De Vega for her "outstanding work in bringing the people of our two nations closer together," noting that he has himself read the news articles on the Embassy's gastrodiplomacy initiatives.

Deputy Minister Choi also highlighted that Philippine and ROK relations are enjoying a high momentum brought by the high-level exchanges at almost all levels, with Koreans as the top tourist arrivals in the Philippines and the record high bilateral trade volume of 18 billion USD in 2022.

Other notable guests included Ministry of Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister for Public Diplomacy Lee Sanghwa, Ms. Jasmine Lee, former National Assembly member and now a member of the Presidential Committee on National Cohesion, and Dean of the Diplomatic Corps Ambassador Carlos Victor Boungou also the non-resident Ambassador of the Republic of Gabon to the Philippines who joined Ambassador Dizon-De Vega and Deputy Minister Choi on stage for the commemorative cake cutting ceremony.

To celebrate ROK's top spot as the number one source of tourist arrivals for the Philippines in 2022, the Philippine Embassy through the Philippine Department of Tourism in Korea and travel partners Philippine Airlines, JPark Water Resort, and The Crimson Mactan raffled off roundtrip tickets with hotel stays from Incheon to Cebu to two lucky winners, both coming from the diplomatic corps.

The event was capped by a well-received performance by Ms. Mishka Antoinette R. Camulte who sang beautiful renditions of Filipino and Korean favorites, Umagang Kay Ganda and Areum Dau Nara. Both songs symbolize shared Philippine and Korean values of hope, resilience, and nation building. END