President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. congratulated the newly elected President of the Republic of Korea (ROK), Lee Jae-Myung.

In a social media post, Marcos extended his greeting on behalf of the Filipino people.

“On behalf of the Filipino people, I congratulate Lee Jae-Myung on his election as President of the Republic of Korea,” he said.

Marcos added that he is looking forward to working with the new Korean leader and exploring new ways of enhancing the partnership between Manila and Seoul.

“The Philippines values its deep and enduring ties with the ROK and I look forward to working with him to further strengthen the Strategic Partnership between our two countries,” he said.

According to the latest available government data from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea, there are more than 70,000 Filipinos living in South Korea, and over 531,099 Filipinos visited the ROK in 2024.

In 2023, over 34,148 South Koreans were residing in the Philippines, with 1,569,071 South Koreans visiting the country.

Between the two countries, the Philippines and South Korea have engaged in bilateral trade worth USD14.7 billion, with USD10.2 billion in ROK exports and USD4.4 billion in imports, making South Korea one of the Philippines’ top trading partners.

The Department of Trade and Industry considers South Korea the Philippines’ number five trading partner out of 230 countries.