Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso and South Korea Ambassador to the Philippines Kim Inchul recently met to talk about establishing a “Korea Town” in Manila’s Malate district.
In a post on Facebook on Wednesday, the Manila LGU Information Office said Domagoso was upbeat about strengthening the good relationship of Manila with South Korea.
“Manila City Mayor Francisco ‘Isko Moreno’ Domagoso expressed his intent to strengthen the capital city’s relations with South Korea by establishing ‘Korea Town’ in Malate,” according to the Manila PIO.
“The matter was discussed on March 10 when South Korean Ambassador Kim Inchul paid a courtesy call on Mayor Domagoso,” said the PIO.
Kim is the 32nd foreign envoy who has paid a courtesy call on the mayor since July 2019.
Domagoso was quoted in a tweet as saying to the Korean envoy that the city was honored to extend any help to realize the plan. Willie Casas
“We are building Korea Town in the Malate area to showcase Korean culture right in the nation’s capital. We also told His Excellency about how we benchmarked Myeong-dong’s markets in Binondo, Manila,” the mayor said.
Domagoso also expressed his gratitude for the unwavering support that the other country has been showing for the nation’s capital.
He also said the local government of Manila was looking forward to continuing and strengthening the good relationship that the city has with South Korea.
“If the City could extend any help to your country, we would be honored to do so,” Domagoso said.
In his earlier message posted on the Korean Embassy website, Kim said the Philippines was a long-time partner of South Korea.
He said the Philippines was the first state in the ASEAN and the fifth in the world to send soldiers to fight in the Korean War, which lasted from 1950 to 1953.
Also, the ambassador said that prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, people-to-people exchanges had been steadily increasing, with around two million Koreans visiting the Philippines and around 500,000 Filipinos visiting Korea in 2019.