▲ President Lee Jae Myung (L) arrives at Villamor Air Base in Manila on March 3, 2026, to begin his state visit to the Philippines. (Yonhap)
▲ President Lee Jae Myung (L) and first lady Kim Hea Kyung arrive at Villamor Air Base in Manila, the Philippines, on March 3, 2026. (Yonhap)
▲ President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a state dinner hosted by Singaporean President Tharman Shanmugaratnam at Capella Singapore on March 2, 2026. (Yonhap)

(2nd LD) Lee-Philippines

(2nd LD) Lee arrives in Philippines for summit talks with Marcos

(ATTN: UPDATES with Lee's arrival in first 2 paras; CHANGES headline, dateline, photos)

By Kim Eun-jung

MANILA, March 3 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Jae Myung arrived in Manila on Tuesday to hold summit talks with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to discuss bilateral ties, following his visit to Singapore.

Lee will first visit the Jose Rizal Monument to honor Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines, before holding talks with Marcos, which will be followed by a signing ceremony for memorandums of understanding and a joint press announcement.

It will mark Lee's second summit with Marcos following their first meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in late October.

The two leaders are expected to explore ways to deepen cooperation in the defense industry, infrastructure and trade, as well as in promising sectors including nuclear power, shipbuilding, critical minerals and artificial intelligence, presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said.

The two countries forged diplomatic ties on March 3, 1949, making the summit coincide with the anniversary of diplomatic relations.

The Philippines was the first Southeast Asian nation with which South Korea established diplomatic relations and the first Asian country to dispatch troops to the 1950-53 Korean War.

On Wednesday, Lee is scheduled to attend a business forum involving business leaders from both countries and meet with Korean residents in the Philippines before flying back home.

South Korea is one of the Philippines' major economic partners, with the bilateral free trade deal taking effect in 2024.

Cheong Wa Dae expressed hope that Lee's two-nation trip will promote coordination with key members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on the international stage and help pave the way for deeper ties with the regional bloc.

In Singapore, Lee held summit talks with Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong to discuss ways to forge closer economic ties and attended the AI Connect Summit to discuss artificial intelligence cooperation between the two Asian tech powerhouses.

(END)

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