Moon Soon-deuk, considered as Korea's first person to learn a Philippine language (i.e. the Ilocano language), was able to use his interpretation skills conversing with the five Filipinos who were shipwrecked off Jeju Island in 1801 and were able to return home after nine years. He was the first recorded Filipino interpreter in Joseon dynasty. Moon, a survivor of shipwreck himself, was a ray merchant who lived on Ui Island, drifted to Japan's Okinawa Island with his uncle and four other colleagues, and then ended up seeing the Philippines, Macao and China. They were hit by the typhoon while on their way home from another island nearby after purchasing some fish known as "hongeo". Moon had a flair with foreign languages as he acquired the language in Yeosong (
Luzon) - possibly
Ilocano language, and had a sharp eye for the way the people lived. He was able to describe the towns, churches, houses, and how people prepared food in the northern Luzon region. shaking hands with President
Lee Myung-bak in 2009 During
World War II, the Japanese forcefully imported Korean soldiers to the Philippines to serve Japan's occupation from 1944 until the end of the war. During this time, Koreans were branded as "more cruel than the Japanese", however, a study published in 2012 found these rumors to be baseless. Only 2 Korean soldiers were ever convicted of war crimes in the Philippines. The study notes that the rumors may have likely been spread by the Japanese throughout the islands to incur hate against ethnic Koreans during and after the war. Bilateral relations between South Korea and the Philippines were established on March 3, 1949, upon the recognition of Republic of Korea as a sovereign state by the Philippines. The Philippines was the fifth state to recognize the Republic of Korea and the first
ASEAN country to establish relations with the new nation. During the
Korean War (1950–1953), the Philippines sent its forces to aid South Korea. It was the first Asian country to respond to the call of the United Nations (UN) to help South Korea when it was invaded by Chinese and North Korean communist forces. As of 2009, there were 45,000 Filipinos residing in South Korea. In 2011, the South Korean
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade conducted a census and found that there were more than 90,000
South Koreans living in the Philippines, a fall of 16% from 2009 after a period of rapid growth in the population in the preceding decade. In 2017, civilian groups in the Philippines and South Korea joined forces to push for the inscription of
Voices of the ”Comfort Women” in the
UNESCO Memory of the World Programme. The inscription, however, was blocked by Japan. The
Republic of Korea Air Force Black Eagles aerobatic team led by 8 T-50B jets and
Philippine Air Force’s 4 FA-50H
light combat fighters per
Gilbert Teodoro flew together on March 3, 2024 to hold a free 3-day
Clark Air Base “Black Eagles
Airshow and Friendship Flight” for the 75th anniversary of the
diplomatic relations between the Philippines and South Korea. ==Economic relations==