President Roh arrives in Manila tomorrow (Wednesday) for a three-day state visit on his way home from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where he attended the ASEAN+3 and East Asia Summits.

South Korea is one of the three Asian countries considered as special partners of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and aptly designated as +3. The two others are China and Japan.

ASEAN groups Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Presidents Arroyo and Roh will hold a special summit of their own on Thursday (Dec. 15) where the two leaders will discuss ways to further promote substantive bilateral cooperation between their two countries.

President Roh is also scheduled to attend the opening of the IT Training Center in Quezon City, and address the Korea-Philippines Economic Council composed of business leaders of the two countries.

He will likewise meet Korean residents in the Philippines and touch base with Philippine veterans of the 1950-53 Korean War before returning home on Dec. 16.

Filipino soldiers figured prominently in the Korean War where members of the Philippine Expeditionary Force to Korea (PEFTOK) shed blood and died.

The late Brig. Gen. Dionisio Ojeda, who commanded the Philippine Army’s 10^th Battalion Combat Team, emerged a hero of the Korea War. One of his men was former President Fidel V. Ramos who saw action in Korea as a young second lieutenant and platoon commander.

It was partly in recognition of this fond memory of the gallant Filipino soldiers that the city government of Busan, the venue of the recent Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum leaders’ summit, hosted members of the Philippine media who covered the summit to a special and sumptuous dinner during the event.

A good number of Filipino soldiers died in the bloody Korean War in Busan.

During President Roh’s visit, the Philippines and South Korea will formalize and sign an Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) arrangement binding the Korean government to disburse EDCF money to help finance road improvement projects in the Philippines.

The accord commits to fund the upgrading of the Gapan-San Fernando-Olongapo (GSO) Road and Emergency Dredging Project.

Aside from the EDCF, the two countries will also sign memoranda of understanding in the areas of energy cooperation and mineral resources cooperation, under which they will reaffirm their commitments to cooperate further in promoting socio-economic development of the Philippines.

President Roh’s visit to Manila is likewise expected to further diversify the two countries’ flourishing bilateral relations with new collaborations in social and cultural fields.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and visiting South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun witnessed today the signing of two major bilateral agreements forged between their respective governments.

The bilateral agreements were signed by Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo and Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Ban Ki Moon at Malacanang Reception Hall this morning.

The first is the Agreement on Social Security that will help ensure the health and welfare of Filipino workers in Korea, as well as Korean workers in the Philippines.

The second accord concerns a $22.3-million loan from the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) of Korea for the widening and upgrading of certain sections of the Gapan – San Fernando – Olongapo Road and an Emergency Dredging Project that will be implemented over a four-year period.

President Roh and his First Lady Kwon Yang-suk arrived at the Malacaņang grounds at exactly 10 a.m. and were received by President Arroyo and First Gentleman Atty. Jose Miguel Arroyo.

The two First Couples also posed for souvenir photos at the "Belen" diorama at the Palace grounds before proceeding on with their official functions relative to the state visit including the signing of the Palace Guest Book while the famed Pangkat Kawayan under the baton of Prof. Victor Toledo serenaded them with popular Philippine Folk Songs.

The President then introduced the visiting Korean President to her Cabinet Members who formed part of the reception line, including Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, Secretaries Romulo of DFA, Margarito Teves of Finance, Rafael Lotilla of Energy, Patricia Sto Tomas of Labor and Employment, Joseph Ace Durano of Tourism, Hermogenes Ebdane of Public Works and Highways, and Leandro Mendoza of Transportation and Communications.

Also on hand to greet President Roh were members of the Diplomatic Corps led by the Most Rev. Antonio Franco, Papal Nuncio and Dean of the Corps; Armed Forces of the Philippines chief-of-staff Gen. Generoso Senga, Lt. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon of the Army, Lt. Gen. Jose Reyes of the Air Force, and Vice Admiral Mateo Mayuga of the Navy.

President Roh’s visit is expected to further boost the political and economic cooperation of the two nations as well as promote the bilateral ties between the Philippines and Korea.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo met this afternoon with some 30 Korean students enrolled at the Philippine Women’s University (PWU) in Manila and personally invited them to witness the inauguration on Friday of the Korea-Philippines Information Technology Training Center in Novaliches, Quezon City.

"I came to personally invite you to come tomorrow to the opening of an information technology center in Metro Manila," the President said.

The Chief Executive noted that there are as many Korean students studying in the Philippines as Filipino students in Korean universities even as she stressed the need for "exchange of learning" between the two countries.

"As I told you earlier, the Philippines welcomes the Korean students studying here," she said.

The President said the Korean students would also get the chance to meet Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, who is in the country for a three-day state visit, at the inauguration of the IT training center located at the Quezon City Polytechnic University in Barangay San Bartolome, Novaliches.

During the visit of President Arroyo to Seoul in June 2003, an agreement on the IT Training Center was concluded. The Korean government provided $4.3 million for the establishment of a state-of-the-art IT training center in the Philippines.

The President motored to the PWU from the Philippine National Railways Tutuban station in Manila where she and President Roh earlier launched the Northrail-Southrail linkage project.

The President was welcomed by PWU Board of Trustees Chairperson Helena Benitez, PWU President Amylou Benitez Reyes, PWU Vice President for Academic Affairs Dolores Baja Lasan, and the university’s faculty and staff.

There are more than 50 Korean students presently enrolled in hotel and restaurant management, management and education courses at the PWU.

They said they find the Philippines an ideal place to learn the English language since it is the Filipinos’ second language, aside from the cheaper cost of education here.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today thanked visiting South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun for financing her administration’s vital infrastructure projects, particularly the Northrail-Southrail Linkage Project (NSLP) aimed at decongesting Metro Manila and modernizing the country’s railway system.

The President made the statement during the NSLP launching at the old Tutuban main station of the Philippine National Railways in Tondo, Manila on Thursday.

In her speech at the NSLP launching, the President said the launch rites served to convey the Filipinos’ appreciation for the Korean government’s contribution to the country’s infrastructure development by financing the modernization of the train system across Metro Manila.

The Korean government extended a soft loan of $50.42 million for the 34-kilometer NSLP which extends from Caloocan City in the north to Alabang (in Muntinlupa City) in the south.

"This is a major contribution to one item in our 10-point pro-poor legacy agenda, which is the decongestion of Metro Manila. With this groundbreaking, our next ambition is to extend the project to Calamba, Laguna and onwards to Bicol," the President said.

President Arroyo noted that the NSLP is only one of many projects directly assisted by the Korean government and the Korean business community in the Philippines.

Other big-ticket projects with Korean investments include the $1-billion shipyard in Subic by Hanjin, a Korean firm, the $600-million and $200-million expansion projects of its power facilities in Batangas and in Naga, Cebu, respectively by the Korean Electric Power Company (KEPCO) and the $200- million submarine power transmission from KEPCO’s Batangas plant to Mindoro.

In addition to the NSLP, the Korean government has also committed to fund the construction of a modern airport in Misamis Oriental in Mindanao.

Overall, Korean assistance and investments in these projects could amount to over $2 billion, the President said.

President Arroyo said South Korea has expressed its strong commitment to expand investment to the Philippines, particularly in the energy sector..

The Korean leader, for his part, assured President Arroyo that Korea will continue to take a vigorous role in infrastructure development in the Philippines.

"I hope that this project, which we are initiating today, will serve as an emblem of the strong ties between our countries. Having said that, I wish to express my best wishes for the prosperity of the Philippines, the people of the Philippines, especially you Madam President," the Korean leader said.

Philippine National Railways (PNR) general manager Jose Maria Sarasola II said the NSLP launching signals the start of the rehabilitation of PNR’s southern line.

"The special significance of today’s event has not been lost on PNR. This is in fulfillment of President Arroyo’s commitment in her 2001 State of the Nation Address to breathe new life into the South Manila Commuter Line," Sarasola said in his welcome remarks.

Of the US$50.42 million Korean fund commitment for NSLP, 70 percent or $35 million will come as a concessional loan from the Economic Cooperation and Development Fund (ECDP) of Korea, while the 30 percent balance will be provided by the Korean Export-Import Bank.

President Roh has also committed to allocate an additional US$70 million to fund Phase 2 of the project which will further extend the railway system from Muntinglupa City to Calamba City in Laguna.