PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has expressed relief over the historic move of the leaders of North and South Korea to bring a formal end to their decades-long conflict and seek peace in the peninsula.
This comes after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in signed Friday, April 27, an agreement to work towards a "common goal of realizing, through complete denuclearization, a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula."
The two Korean leaders' signing of the declaration was aimed at establishing "peace, prosperity and unification" in the peninsula.
When the historic meeting between Kim and Moon happened, Duterte was in Singapore to attend the 32nd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said Duterte was "very much relieved" by the latest development, since the Philippines is one of the nations that may be hit by North Korea's nuclear tests.
"Of course everyone is relieved because we are all looking at the past prospects of a nuclear encounter in our backyard," Roque told reporters in Singapore on Friday night.
"So (Duterte is) very much relieved. As you know, whenever they test their missiles, it always lands in Philippine waters," he added.
North Korea's missile program has progressed over the decades, raising worry among member states of the 10-man Asean.
During Duterte's Asean chairmanship last year, Southeast Asian leaders expressed "grave concern" over Pyongyang's tests of nuclear weapons that pose global security risks.
With Kim and Moon's commitment to pursue peace deal and push for a complete denuclearization, Roque said Asean would surely "express relief" over the welcoming progress in the Korean peninsula.
"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. (SunStar Philippines)