Philippines eyeing VFA with South Korea — officials

Upgrade to High-Speed Internet for only ₱1499/month!

Enjoy up to 100 Mbps fiber broadband, perfect for browsing, streaming, and gaming.

Visit Suniway.ph to learn

May 9, 2025 | 3:32pm

MANILA, Philippines — A visiting forces agreement between the Philippines and South Korea could soon be in the works, the Armed Forces of the Philippines chief said on Friday, May 9.

AFP Chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. hinted at the possibility of future negotiations for the military agreement during the closing ceremony of the Balikatan joint exercises.

Brawner mentioned South Korea among several countries with which the Philippines aims to formalize a VFA, which will allow troops from both nations to be deployed on each other's territory. 

"We have also already signed the status of visiting forces agreement with New Zealand, and very soon with Canada, with France, and hopefully with South Korea," Brawner said in his speech.

The AFP chief mentioned the Philippines' ongoing VFA talks with these countries in the context of the large number of participants that sent observers to this year's Balikatan exercises.

Nineteen nations participated as observers in the military drills, including South Korea, with four European countries — the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Lithuania, and Poland — joining as observers for the first time.

Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro confirmed to reporters that discussions for the agreement with South Korea would begin after its presidential elections.

"We will start scoping and see what happens after their elections," Teodoro said in mixed English and Filipino. "We're waiting for their elections to conclude."

Teodoro sees the strategic importance of establishing a VFA with South Korea due to the existing military cooperation between the two nations.

"It's important for us because we already have interoperability with them, especially in naval operations, and our FA-50 aircraft came from them," the defense chief said.

The FA-50s are supersonic light combat aircraft that the Philippines purchased from South Korea, with all 12 jets delivered between 2015 and 2017. The Philippines is currently eyeing the acquisition of 12 more FA-50 Block 20 fighters in a potential P40 billion ($680 million) deal.

Existing VFAs. The potential military pact with South Korea would add to similar agreements the Philippines has with other countries. 

The Philippines maintains a VFA with the US and Australia, while it has a similar Reciprocal Access Agreement with Japan. More recently, the country signed a VFA with New Zealand on April 30, which will take effect only after Senate ratification. 

This year's Balikatan exercises, which concluded Friday, involved approximately 5,000 Filipino troops and 10,000 U.S. military personnel conducting joint drills across Luzon, Palawan, the Visayas and Mindanao.

The exercises, whose name means "shoulder-to-shoulder" in Tagalog, featured a range of military operations including missile defense drills, counter-landing live fires and maritime strike capabilities.

Last year, following media reports that South Korea's defense ministry was considering a VFA with the Philippines, the South Korean embassy in Manila issued a clarification that no formal proposal was in the works.

The embassy released a carefully worded statement explaining that South Korean Ambassador Lee Sang-hwa said "there have been discussions in Korea — to mean the topic has been explored by experts widely — but... there has not been any progress or details that he can speak of."

South Korea and the Philippines elevated their relationship to a "strategic partnership" in October 2024, which included pledges to strengthen cooperation between their coast guards and South Korean support for modernizing the Philippine military.