Filipino General Carlos Romulo, who was the president of the U.N. General Assembly when the Korean War broke out in 1950, staunchly advocated the international defense of South Korea. “The application of military sanctions in Korea is in itself an act of the greatest significance,” he said before the Assembly on Sept. 25, 1950, reflecting on the decision of the Security Council to take military action in the peninsula and on the need to strengthen collective action against acts of aggression.

“The Philippine Government, for its part, has given concrete proof of its support of the principle of collective security by sending troops to help the U.N. forces in Korea,” he added, referring to the first of five battalion combat teams from the Philippine Expeditionary Force to Korea), which rushed to Busan only six days earlier on Sept. 19, 1950. The relations between the Philippines and South Korea have always been characterized by such mutual trust and support. Bilateral relations between the two countries started on March 3, 1949 when the Philippines became the fifth country to recognize South Korea. The Philippines sent 7,420 soldiers to South Korea over a five-year period, among them former President Fidel Ramos and two former ambassadors to South Korea. Today, the Philippine Embassy commemorates their sacrifices every September at the Philippine Monument in Goyang City and in Yeoncheon County, where two memorials were erected in the 1960s to honor their courage and bravery during the Battle of Yultong. The Korean War is actually enshrined in the Philippine currency. At the back of the P500 bill (around 12,000 won) is a picture of our hero, Benigno Aquino, Jr. Aquino was a war correspondent during the Korean War, and beside his picture is one of his articles entitled “First Cavalry Knifes Through 38th Parallel.” Aquino is the father of President Benigno Aquino III, the 15th president of the Philippines. In the Philippines, two monuments about the Korean War attest to the longstanding ties between the two countries -- the PEFTOK Memorial in Manila and the Marikorea Monument in Marikina City, where our soldiers trained before deployment to South Korea. For over 60 years, the Philippines and South Korea nurtured this friendship, a partnership that began with military collaboration and lives on to this day in the form of deeper and more comprehensive cooperation in diverse areas such as trade, political-security concerns and socio-cultural exchanges. The Philippines and South Korea continue to stand side-by-side, proud of their shared history, committed to regional peace, and united by a common future of sustainable progress and stability. Luis T. Cruz Ambassador of the Philippines