MANILA, Philippines – Before heading to a joint press conference at the President’s Hall in Malacañang, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. gave South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol a quick peek into history that’s both his and the Philippines’.
Marcos explained to Yoon that he had lived in Malacañan itself, “during [his] childhood years.”
“My room was next door,” added the Philippine President, seconds before their arrival was announced to a room of government secretaries, ministers, their aides, and the media.
Both Marcos and Yoon watched over the exchange of several memoranda and loan agreements, culminated by the announcement that South Korea would be the Philippines’ fourth strategic partner.
It’s a status that, thus far, only Japan, Vietnam, and Australia enjoy.
The agreements signed before the two Presidents were nothing to be scoffed at. They cover coast guard cooperation, economic cooperation, cooperation on raw material supply chains, infrastructure developments in Laguna and the Visayas, and a tourism agreement.
For good measure, the two countries agreed to a feasibility study on the rehabilitation of the long-dormant Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, a project of the Philippine President’s father and namesake, the late dictator who ruled the Philippines for over two decades.
But it’s the elevation of bilateral ties at the 75-year mark that took up most talk from the state visit. The partnership, Marcos pointed out, is “further impetus to the strengthening and deepening of our cooperation in an increasingly complex geopolitical and economic environment.”
Joshua Espeñeda, vice president of the International Development and Security Cooperation think tank and lecturer at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, sees the strategic partnership as a “critical development” for both Asian nations.
“For Manila, tapping into Seoul’s matured industries can foster collaboration on investment, employment, tech-sharing, logistics, and other arrangements for upgrading its capabilities to fight adversaries sustainably,” he told Rappler.
“For Seoul, tapping into Manila’s geostrategic location and development potential allows the country to cultivate trust that can lead to a more sustainable profit it needs to bolster its capabilities to survive and thrive,” he added.
It’s significant progress in the bilateral relationship, especially if you think about how Seoul’s statements on Chinese harassment against the Philippines have only increased in frequency in the previous years.
Manila’s bridge building
The strategic partnership with Seoul is part of a bigger Philippine effort to increase cooperation with partners, old and new, as it switches its security focus to external defense and tries to manage an aggressive China in the West Philippine Sea.
In a previous interview with Rappler, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said the Philippines has been “reaching out to many countries to develop” not just security partnerships, but also cooperation that covers both defense and economic security.
“We feel in today’s world, with fast-changing events, it’s important to develop and strengthen traditional partnerships and open up relations and cooperation with non-traditional partners,” Manalo told Rappler back in May.
The demand is two-way. Several countries are in line to forge agreements akin to the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) with Japan or the Status of Visiting Forces Agreement (SOVFA) with Australia or elevate bilateral ties — there’s New Zealand, France, and Canada, to name a few.
Sources have indicated to Rappler that these upgrades have prompted both the defense and foreign affairs departments to streamline how they do things.
For the Department of National Defense, it has meant delegating coordination with different countries who want RAAs or SOVFAs to different officials — in contrast to how it was once done, with only one office handling bilateral defense relations.
In the Department of Foreign Affairs, it’s meant a long overdue assessment of how the Philippines makes sense of what makes a strategic or comprehensive partner because after all, how do you know which country to prioritize in negotiations?
It’s a good problem to have for the Philippines, which has often been referred to as a country on the frontlines of not only China’s maritime aggression, but of shifts in geopolitics and challenges to a long-established “rules-based order.”
“The Marcos administration made a significant feat in bolstering the Philippines’ strategic network of partners that fits the logic of a lattice approach to the US-based alliance system. Lattice, because it allows a flexible yet proactive approach to addressing security challenges sustainably,” observed Espeñeda.
Both the Philippines and South Korea are allies of the United States, whose own relationship with China has turned tenser in recent years.
Espeñeda warned, however, that Manila’s success in forging ties across regions is a “double-edged sword.”
“More agreements like this mean more fiery eyes by China. So, the more inked linkage(s), the faster Manila must move to make this work. In the short term, China challenges these developments through constant maritime harassment and diplomatic double-talks,” he added.
It’s manifested in ways big and small. After the Philippines and Japan signed the RAA, China’s foreign ministry warned that “exchange and cooperation between countries should not undermine the mutual understanding and trust between other countries in the region.”
China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian added that the region “does not need any military bloc, still less groupings that incite bloc confrontation or a new Cold War,” before bringing up Japan’s “historical responsibilities for its aggression and colonial rule” over the Philippines during the second world war.
Beijing has used the same sort of rhetoric when reacting to developments in Philippine-US engagements, in bilateral and multilateral joint sails in the West Philippine Sea, and even in emerging minilaterals that involve the Philippines.
At the same time, Beijing makes it a point to pretend everything’s fine — even as it continues to harass Philippine vessels in the West Philippine Sea.
“With the joint effort of China and ASEAN countries, the situation in the South China Sea is generally stable,” said another China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning, on October 10, after Marcos used the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-China Summit in Laos to bring up maritime issues in the South China Sea.
Because Marcos brought up the South China Sea, Nikkei reported, other countries followed suit — Vietnam, Singapore, and Thailand, among others. It’s worth noting that Mao’s claims of a “generally stable” sea comes after Chinese maritime personnel chased, beat, and harassed Vietnamese fisherfolk in the Paracel islands.
South Korea’s stake
In most events in the Philippines that involve South Korea or South Koreans — whether it be hosted by the embassy in Manila, or any of the East Asian country’s biggest stars — there will almost always be mention of the Filipino affinity for anything Korean.
The close ties of Filipinos and Koreans go further back than the decades-old love affair with the latter’s biggest idols and creative work.
South Korean Ambassador Lee Sang-hwa, writing for The Freeman in October 2023, highlighted the story of Moon Sun-deuk, a Korean fish vendor in the early 19th century who was rescued by Filipino fisherfolk. He’s often referred to as the first Korean Filipino interpreter and is the “first documented interaction between Korea and the Philippines.”
Those maritime ties continue — and have grown more important centuries later, in 2024.
Lee, speaking to reporters in a forum on Philippine-South Korean bilateral cooperation, said the two countries will be elevating their “partnership in maritime security to a higher level” through a maritime dialogue hosted in Seoul come November 2024. While he stressed not knowing of serious talks for South Korea to join multilateral sails in the West Philippine Sea, Lee also noted that since Manila is “eager to consider expanding its partnership with other key allies and partners…Korea can be one of the top candidates in its maritime cooperation activities.”
Manila has also been a steadfast supporter of Seoul in its concerns over North Korea’s ballistic missile launches, as well as the latter’s rhetoric on the use of nuclear weapons. Marcos repeated the point when he spoke at the ASEAN-Republic of Korea Summit on October 10 in Laos.
Some of the Philippines’ newest and most modern military equipment, including its Jose Rizal-class frigates and FA-50PH jets, are made in South Korea. The two countries also expect a Free Trade Agreement to kick in soon, once it’s approved by Seoul’s National Assembly.
Yoon made explicit his country’s plan to play a part in phase three of the Philippine military’s long-overdue upgrade.
“Seoul expects Manila to prefer its defense products for the AFP [Armed Forces of the Philippines] Modernization Horizon 3 and perhaps even beyond. So, investing in the Philippines is worth the catch. However, I do not expect Manila to get everything it needs from Seoul since more strategic partnerships mean more options for the former aside from the latter,” said Espeñada.
After all, more options are always better for Manila, despite and even because of the unprecedented pace of its cooperation with superpower ally the United States.
“All these inked partnerships indicate the shifting sands of the regional order for Manila’s advantage. Before, they might view Manila as a reactive player. However, these changes suggest the Philippines’ proactive role in the region by hosting partner forces and other opportunities to develop the Philippines’ forces,” added Espeñeda.
But here’s the thing: all these allies, friends, and partners are good for the Marcos administration and the Philippines, only in as much as they’re able to make the most of these relationships in a way that benefits the country, their partner, and the region.
“Again, it’s a double-edged sword: Manila must make haste to put these arrangements into fruition toward a deterrent posture to put a resolution against Beijing’s aggressive and revisionist actions in the long run,” said Espeñeda. – Rappler.com
