Department of Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana revealed on Tuesday that President Rodrigo Duterte has renewed his support to South Korea over its problems in the Korean Peninsula.

Lorenzana said that the President expressed his support to the South Korean government over their problems in the Korean Peninsula, adding that Duterte has pressed for a peaceful resolution of the Korean conflict during the summit.

“He did mention, he said we support South Korea with their problems in the Korean peninsula,” Lorenzana said.

With regards to the role of the Philippines in case there will be a crisis in the Korean peninsula between South Korea and North Korea, Lorenzana said they still don’t know.

“Well, we still don’t know what South Korea will ask maybe if there will be a crisis there then that’s the time can make a reaction,” said Lorenzana, adding that it is up to the North and South Korean governments and the United States on how they will solve their problems.

According to Lorenzana, democratic South Korea and communist North Korea are technically still at war, noting that the Korean War — which broke out in 1950 — ended in 1953 with an armistice and not with a peace agreement.

“There are no specifics and that is the problem of South Korea and North Korea and then US on how they will fix this war] because the Korean War has not yet ended. As far as both countries are concerned it’s still ongoing. They are only in armistice,” Lorenzana said.

The Defense chief also revealed that during the bilateral, talks, there was no mention between President Duterte and South Korean President Moon Jae-in on the conflict in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) or South China Sea.

During his bilateral meeting with Korean President Moon, President Duterte promised to work with RoK in promoting peace and stability in the region on the sidelines of the ASEAN-RoK Commemorative Summit on 25 November 2019.