Former SoKor president here in Cebu

CEBU, Philippines - Former South Korean president Kim Young-sam and his wife, Son Myeong-sun, arrived in Cebu late Wednesday evening upon the invitation of the Cebu Kopino Children Foundation, Inc.

The former state leader arrived at the Mactan Cebu International Airport with a group of South Korean lawmakers, businessmen and journalists to attend a celebration of the foundation and to extend support to children born to Korean and Filipino parents.

Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia will be hosting tonight a reception dinner for the delegation at the Capitol Social Hall.

Kim was a South Korean politician and democratic activist. From 1961 he spent 30 years as South Korea’s leader of the opposition and was one of Park Chung-hee’s most powerful rivals.

He was the first civilian president of South Korea since a series dictatorships beginning with Syngman Rhee. Kim was inaugurated on February 25, 1993 and served a single five-year term.

The Cebu Kopino Children Foundation was formed in February 2009.

“Kopino” is a coined term for Korean and Filipino. This term, which is used mostly in the Philippines, refers to children born to Filipino mothers and Korean fathers.

The foundation was established to deal with a comparable situation in Korea where child abandonment is also a social problem.

The Philippines is favored by many Koreans for its low cost of living and education expenses compared to the United States and other countries.

Senior Supt. Louie Oppus, Deputy Regional Director for Operations and Officer in Charge of the Cebu Provincial Police Office created a task force to take charge of the security of Kim and his entourage.

Majority of the policemen come from the Cebu City Police Office but they are coordinating with the other units to strengthen their security measures.

Also assisting in conducting security measures are the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, the Provincial Intelligence Branch, the CCPO-Highway Patrol and the Maritime Group.

Oppus said policemen from the Lapu-Lapu City Police Office manned the convoy of the visitors within the city’s jurisdiction. In Mandaue, policemen from the Mandaue City Police Office are on standby.

Personnel from the Regional Public Safety Battalion also assisted the CCPO.

Oppus said this is an opportunity to show the visitors that Cebu is a peaceful place where they can invest.

“This is an opportunity for Cebu to show that this is a good place for an investment,” he said.  (FREEMAN)