Duterte relieved by Korean leaders’ peace move

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte is “relieved” over the move of the leaders of North and South Korea to end their long-standing war, agreeing to denuclearize the peninsula, his spokesman said.

“Of course everyone is relieved because we are all looking at the past prospects of a nuclear encounter in our backyard. So very much relieved. As you know, whenever they test their missiles, it always lands in Philippine waters,” Palace spokesman Harry in Singapore on Friday night.

South Korean President Moon Jae- in and his North Korean counterpart, Kim Jong Un, signed on Friday the “Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, the Korean Peninsula,” 65 years after war hostilities on the peninsula ended.

Roque said the development will be tackled during the 32nd Association of Southeast Asian - ing in Singapore.

“I think it’s almost sure that they will express relief over this development and we congratulate the Koreans for their effort to talk peace amongst themselves as an encouragement to proceed with the talks,” Roque said.

The Philippines has repeatedly urged North Korea to stop its missile tests.

In November last year, Duterte expressed concern over North Korea’s nuclear warfare and said that the Philippines would support Japan in its stance against Pyongyang.

During his visit to Japan late October 2017, Duterte appealed to stakeholders to try and usher in a peaceful resolution to the situation in the Korean Peninsula.

“We need to address many issues confronting the region and threats to the stability and secu - most among our shared concerns are developments in the Korean peninsula and the continuing missile launch tests of North Korea,” Duterte had said.

Meanwhile, Sen. Loren Legarda said the Philippines should continue to extend support to achieve lasting peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula and

She noted that in 2017, the Philippines called on North Korea to commit to making meaningful progress towards the peaceful resolution of the issues facing the Korean Peninsula.

The agreement forged by the leaders of North and South Korea at the recent summit—to end decades of hostility and to rid the Korean peninsula of nuclear weapon.

“We have always believed in promoting peace through dialog and cooperation,” said Legarda, chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

“This is what Asean ( Association of Southeast Asian Na achieve, of which North Korea is a participant,” the senator said.

This summit “actualized dialog at the highest level, thus, giving everyone hope for a resolution to one of the potentially most perilous sources of tension in the world today,” she added.