Pnoy Aquino, the current Philippine President, is on a two-day visit to South Korea. He is the first leader of a nation invited by South Korean President Park Geun Hye for a state visit.
Photo from Yonhap
Park Geun Hye welcomed Pnoy Aquino at the main building of Cheongwadae, Korea’s presidential palace, with honor guards dressed in traditional costumes. They signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for defense particularly for the Philippines to purchase 12 FA-50 (fighter jets) at $450 million. South Korea will also extend a loan of $80 million for Economic Development Cooperation Fund to be used in Pampanga. Lastly, they also agreed to support sport exchanges. (Source: Korean news)
Park Geun Hye believes that South Korea should strengthen ties with its ASEAN neighbors particularly the VIP countries (Vietnam, Indonesia and Philippines), which are believed to follow the BRIC countries.
Tomorrow, October 18th, Pnoy Aquino will meet with Korean business leaders. In the evening, he will meet with the members of the Filipino community at the Crystal Ballroom of the Lotte Hotel in Myeongdong. The meeting will start at 6 PM, but participants are advised to be at the venue by 5 PM. No banners, cameras and tomatoes allowed… kidding!
Pnoy will confer the Order of Lakandula to Cong. Jasmine Lee for her contribution in the Filipino community in South Korea. Congratulations Jaz!
I hope the Philippine government will hasten the procurement of these fighter jets.