Envoy vows closer Phl-NoKor ties

MANILA, Philippines - The president of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly of North Korea has expressed hope that the appointment of a female ambassador of the Philippines would greatly contribute to the blossoming of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Philippine Ambassador (non-resident) Erlinda Basilio presented her credentials before Kim Yong Nam, North Korea’s head of parliament, in a ceremony held on July 24 at the building of the Supreme People’s Assembly in Pyongyang.

Basilio was accompanied by officials from the Philippine embassy in Beijing during her presentation of credentials.

In her meeting with Kim, Basilio committed to work towards ensuring closer bilateral relations between the Philippines and the emocratic People’s republic of Korea – now on its 14th year – and reiterated the strong hope and desire of the Philippines for peace and stability to prevail in the Korean Peninsula.

Basilio also broached exploring closer cooperation with the DPRK in the fields of education, disaster risk reduction and management, culture, and people-to-people exchanges, among others.

Kim congratulated the Philippine envoy on her appointment, which will serve as a good momentum to the growing bilateral ties.

He also expressed his hope that, being a female envoy, Basilio would contribute greatly to the blossoming of the Philippines-DPRK relations.

Kim commended the Philippines for securing domestic stability and remarkable economic growth in the recent period, and congratulated the Philippines on its successes and achievements in its economic development under the leadership of President Aquino.

He shared with Basilio the fervent aspirations of the DPRK to also achieve economic growth to become an “economic giant” and improve the livelihood of the Korean people.

Both Kim and Basilio stressed the importance of activating cultural cooperation and exchanges to enhance mutual understanding between the peoples of the two countries.

During her stay in Pyongyang, Basilio also held separate meetings with officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture.