DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS 
P R E S S  R E L E A S E
www.dfa.gov.ph                                                                        2330 Roxas Blvd., Pasay City, Philippines                                                                     Tel. No. 834-4000 
SFA-AGR-779-06                                                                                                                                                                        21 September  2006

PHILIPPINE EMBASSY, SEOUL COMMEMORATES 56th ANNIVERSARY OF ARRIVAL OF 
PHILIPPINE EXPEDITIONARY FORCES TO KOREA 

21 September 2006 — Philippine Ambassador to the Republic of Korea Susan O. Castrence reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that the Embassy commemorated on 19 September 2006 the 56th Anniversary of the Participation of the Philippine Expeditionary Forces to Korea (PEFTOK) at a wreath-laying ceremony held at the Philippine Memorial in Goyang City. 

The ceremony commemorated the arrival of the PEFTOK to help South Korea defend itself from the surprise invasion of the communist North.   

“Approximately 7,000 Filipino soldiers, 116 of whom lost their lives, were sent to the Korean peninsula in five Battalion Combat Teams over a five-year period as part of a UN-supported international contingent. The first Battalion Combat Team arrived on 19 September 1950 while the last left Korea on 13 May 1955,” Ambassador Castrence said. 

The Ambassador dedicated the occasion to the Filipino soldiers who fought in the Korean War, which included former Philippine President Fidel V. Ramos. “We commemorate the courage and conviction of the soldiers whose selfless heroism helped lay the foundation of a strong and independent republic,” she said. 

“Today, we reap the benefits of this robust alliance in the form of political and economic partnership and peopleto-people exchanges,” she added. 

Today, South Korea is a major trading partner and primary source of foreign direct investments of the Philippines.  In 2005, South Korea was the second top sender of visitors to the country with half-a-million arrivals. 

The ceremony was attended by Embassy officials, Goyang City Mayor Kang Hyun-suk, and members of the diplomatic corps and war associations. lt was jointly arranged by the Philippine Embassy, through the Office of the Defense and Armed Forces Attaché, and the UN Korea War Allies Association. 

“The Korean War is technically not yet over because the 1953 accord resulted in an armistice, not a peace treaty,” Ambassador Castrence noted.  END

/gary

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