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MANILA BULLETIN
Business & Society
October 19, 2009
Closer Philippine-Korean Relations
South Korea and the Philippines are among the Next-11 countries that are expected to join BRIC to lead the global economy in economic growth and sustainable developmentin the next twenty years. South Korea is already part of the G-20 that has taken the place of the original G-7 or G-8 that used to chart the future of the world economy in the past. In a recent trip I made to Seoul and some neighboring cities like Daegeon and Chuncheon, there was no doubt in mind that South Korea is already a First World country on equalfooting with such members of the European Union as Spain, Italy and France. In fact, in some ways South Korea has more modern and high-tech infrastructures than these oldEuropean economies for the simple reason that the process of modernization of this East Asian dynamo took place only over the last thirty years.
Last October 8, Korea National Foundation Day was celebrated by the local South Korean community led by their Ambassador His Excellency Choi Joong-Kung. In his Messageon the occasion of the celebration, Ambassador Choi referred to the fact that this year marks the 60th Anniversary of the diplomatic relations between our two countries. He remindedus that in oriental philosophy, the 60th Anniversary has a special meaning. Indeed, our two countries have gotten closer to one another over the years in all senses: economically, politically, culturally, socially and spiritually.
Ambassador Choi, who impresses the business and academic communities in Manila with his efforts to learn Tagalog and Philippine history, made reference in his message tothe 7,000 members of the Philippine Expeditionary Forces to Korea (PEFTOK) who fought in the Korean War for democracy and the free market. Among those in PEFTOK was ourown former President Fidel Ramos. It could also be mentioned that in more recent times, there were two icons of democracy that inspired many countries all over the world to alsostruggle for democratic reforms during the last decade of the last century. Both former Philippine President Corazon Aquino and former South Korean President Kim Dae Jungdid much for democracy through heroic personal sacrifices and outstanding leadership qualities. Providence had it that both would be called to the presence of their Creator in thesame month of August this year. The inspiration of these two world leaders further cements the strong bonds between the Philippines and South Korea.
In economic terms, Ambassador Choi reported that last May 2009, the heads of state of the two countries agreed to further strengthen economic partnerships through mutualcooperation based on complementarities existing between the two economies. In talking to business executives and academics in my recent trip to South Korea, I identified some of these complementarities. Needless to say, because South Korea is a manufacturing power in East Asia--having implemented the appropriate balance between export-oriented andimport-based industrialization in the early years of their economic development efforts--the Philippines will benefit from importing high-quality consumer durables like automobiles, computers andappliances; and capital goods like fire-fighting trucks, post-harvest machines, agricultural machinery and power plants. Already brands like Samsung, Kia, Hyundai, and LG are gettingdominant in their respective markets in the Philippine Economy. Industrial giants like Korean Electric and Hanjin have invested billions of U.S. dollars and are expected to investeven more in the coming years.
From our side, we can provide some food security to South Korea through our export of high-value fruit products like bananas, pineapples and mangoes. Because of the importanceof sea food in the diet of the Koreans, we can also be a major source of aquaculture products. Already there are major plans of Korean-Philippine joint venture companies to go intothe growing of corn in Northern Luzon as well as in Mindanao for export to South Korea. The AFTA plus Korea pact will include a great deal of agricultural trade flowing from the ASEANcountries to the Korean markets. Among the MOUs signed by the two Presidents last May is one for Agricultural Scientific and Technical Cooperation between the Rural DevelopmentAdministration of ROK and the Department of Agriculture of the Philippines. Despite limited agricultural resources in South Korea, the Park Chung Hee regime did well in devoting a lotof resources to making their agricultural sector as productive as possible through scientific and technological research. The Philippines can learn a great deal from these technologicaladvances. Also of great relevance to our struggling rural cooperatives is the Semaul Undung movement that did much to eradicate poverty in the rural areas of South Korea.
Another obvious complementarity between the two countries is in the area of tourism and entertainment. For the past several years, Korean tourists have already surpassed thenumber of Japanese in enjoying the beaches, golf courses, and other attractions of the Philippines. Destinations like Palawan, Cebu, Boracay, and Bohol have taken the place of Cheju islandas sites for Korean couples on their honeymoon. Also, there are some 200,000 South Koreans as long-term visitors in the Philippines in practically all the key cities. They are here to study English, enroll in our colleges and universities, live in retirement villages and open up all types of small and medium-scale enterprises. Korean telenovelas have literally invaded the living rooms of Philippine households. In my recent visit to South Korea, I enjoyed the beautiful mountain scenery of Chuncheon, which became famous to Filipinos because of thehugely successful telenovela Winter Sonata. I told my Korean audiences in Seoul that Koreans and Filipinos can get together in joint venture projects in the production of films,telenovelas and other entertainment vehicles in which we can put together Filipino and Korean talents who can compete with the stars of India's Bollywood. Koreans and Filipinos are amongthe most talented Asians in music, dance, and acting.
In human resources, the two countries are also synergistic. The Philippines is still in the demographic gift stage when the labor force is growing faster than the retired force. In contrast,South Korea is already suffering the consequences of a demographic winter: there are too many senior citizens. Filipino overseas workers are among the most productive in the laborforce of South Korea. Also, South Korean enterprises are locating in our export processing zones to take advantage of the relatively inexpensive but productive labor of the Philippines. That is why one of the MOUs signed by the two Presidents last May was one on the cooperation in the field of labor and manpower development and another on the sending and receiving of workersunder the Employment Permit System of ROK.
In education, there are already thousands of young Koreans studying in Philippine universities, primarily to improve their English. Gradually, Filipino university students going to studyin Korean universities like the SeoulNationalUniversity, Yonsei, Dongkuk, Hallym and others are getting more numerous. At my university, the University of Asia and the Pacific, we haveexchange programs with some of these universities. We have found it very useful for our students to go to South Korea so that our future leaders will be exposed to a reasonably large country thathas gone from Third World to First World in just one generation. This exposure can foster the hope in them that, with more enlightened and honest leaders, the Philippines can perform the same feat in the next twenty years. Our students in turn benefit these Korean universities who are intent in offering more university courses in English in order to internationalize their respective campuses. They are depending on Filipino students to be the agents of well-spoken English that can enhance the English language proficiency of their Korean classmates.
With the help of Samsung Foundation and the Korea Foundation, UA&P hopes to establish the first Center for Korean Studies in Southeast Asia. Whereas some of the leadinguniversities in Southeast Asia have centers for Japanese, Chinese and American studies, to my knowledge there is no educational institution that has a established program for teachingand research on Korean studies. The planned center at UA&P will host professors and scholars who will do both teaching and research on the history, culture, arts, politics and economicsof South Korea and will be open to all Southeast Asian students and researchers who want to specialize in Korean studies. During the current school year, a leading Korean scholarby the name of Kim Djun Kil is spending a few months at UA&P, teaching a course on Korean history to our students. Professor Kim is helping us develop the Center for Korean Studies. For comments, my email address is .