Shared waters, shared future

Oceans have never truly divided us; instead, they serve as history’s greatest highways.

When I recently visited the Museo del Galeón, I realized that the old galleon routes were networks of connectivity. Rather than separating distant civilizations, these waters linked them, acting as conduits for cargo, groundbreaking ideas, diverse cultures and shared global aspirations.

This deep sense of historical interconnectedness took on contemporary geopolitical meaning when Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa P. Lazaro chose the museum to welcome international dignitaries to the 59th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meetings. The message was clear: the museum reflects the Philippines’ identity as a maritime nation whose story has long been shaped by the sea. The exhibits remind us that oceans connect peoples, civilizations and commerce.

As Chair of ASEAN 2026, the Philippines is advancing a vision of a region connected through openness, dialogue, cooperation and shared prosperity. The museum beautifully captures this spirit, with the seas serving as bridges linking the past to the present and charting a course to the future.

Historically, the Manila galleon trade flourished because its routes were predictable and safeguarded by shared rules and mutual interests. Centuries later, open and secure sea lanes remain equally indispensable. Prosperity thrives when common legal standards are upheld and freedom of navigation and overflight are preserved.

The tenth anniversary of the South China Sea Arbitral Award reminds us that maintaining peace and stability at sea is a collective global responsibility. These principles are not abstract ideals; they are the exact conditions that allow investments to take root, industries to flourish and ordinary families to build better lives.

I witnessed this firsthand last Tuesday in Subic Bay during the launching of the Orion Jade, the first vessel built locally at the revitalized shipyard of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Philippines (HHIP).

Anyone who stood where I was standing could feel a heavy sense of anticipation rippling through the crowd just before the release button was pressed. That single command opened the large valves keeping the seawater out. Instantly, the sea poured directly into the basin like loud, roaring mini-waterfalls, the sound drowning out nearby conversation. Slowly but surely, the rising water filled the drydock just enough to lift the vessel. Then came the moment we all waited for: the Orion Jade met the water and began to stir. With a subtle groan, this colossal vessel – measuring a staggering 250 meters long, 45 meters wide and weighing 115,000 tons – gradually floated free from the keel blocks on which it had been perched for nearly half a year. The floodgates opened, exposing the vessel to the horizon, and the Orion Jade safely cleared the gates to meet the ocean for the first time, setting off to begin a journey born right there in the shipyard.

The image stayed with me because it mirrors the progress of Korea-Philippines maritime cooperation. Like buoyancy itself, this partnership has advanced not through sudden leaps, but through the steady accumulation of trust, shared purpose and collaboration in a true “one-team” spirit. During the shipyard’s steel-cutting ceremony, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. described it as an opportunity for the Philippines to reclaim its place among the world’s leading shipbuilding nations. Combining Korea’s world-class technology with the craftsmanship of Filipino workers, the Orion Jade demonstrates what trusted partners can accomplish together.

The timing could not be better. As the Philippines enters a new chapter as an upper-middle income economy, the Subic shipyard is emerging as a cornerstone of the Luzon Economic Corridor. It already employs nearly 4,000 local workers, with that number expected to significantly increase in the coming years. Backed by the Philippine government’s commitment to high-technology industries, including the Pax Silica Industrial Hub highlighted by President Marcos Jr. in his recent State of the Nation Address, HHIP’s investment promises to become a lasting success story.

Over the past three years, I have had the privilege of watching Korea and the Philippines deepen their relationship into a comprehensive maritime partnership. Together, we have expanded cooperation across security, naval modernization, marine environmental protection and shipbuilding.

Our partnership did not begin today; it was forged across the very waters that connect us. In the early 19th century, the ocean carried the Korean castaway Moon Sun-deuk to our shores, where Filipino fishermen rescued him, allowing him to later become the first documented Korean-Filipino interpreter. More than a century later, over 7,000 members of the Philippine Expeditionary Forces to Korea crossed that same ocean to fight alongside us during the Korean War, sealing a deep friendship in blood.

Today, that same relationship extends into trade and investment through the Korea-Philippines Free Trade Agreement, demonstrating once again that open seas and open markets reinforce one another. From acts of humanity and wartime sacrifice to modern cooperation in defense, shipbuilding and environmental stewardship, our two countries continue to prove that the ocean does not divide us; it connects our destinies.

As I conclude my mission in the Philippines, I am deeply humbled to have received the Order of Sikatuna from President Marcos Jr. To me, this distinction means more than a personal honor, because it symbolizes the enduring friendship between our two nations – one that, like the sea surrounding us, knows no boundaries and continues to connect our peoples across generations.

The galleons once carried goods and ideas. Four centuries ago, the Galleon Trade connected continents across the seas. At the Subic shipyard, another vessel entered those same waters; not as a symbol of empire or commerce alone, but as a testament to partnership, shared craftsmanship and a common future.

The tides that once carried the galleons now carry a new generation of ships built by Korean and Filipino hands. And I have every confidence that they will also carry our friendship safely into the future.

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Lee Sang-hwa is the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the Philippines.