South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has committed to support the Philippine Judiciary's digitalization and modernization program, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said.

The PCO said this after Special Envoy to South Korea for Digital Transformation Dennis Anthony Uy led a mission to South Korea from Nov. 5 to 9.

The PCO said Uy secured President Yoon Suk Yeol's commitment to supporting the Philippine Judiciary's Modernization Program funding requirements through the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and Overseas Development Assistance (ODA).

Uy said the focal point of the discussions was to ensure sufficient funding support as the KOICA grant was insufficient to fund all operations, especially maintaining the systems.

"Hence, additional funding may be required from the Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM) for the government-to-government projects. Assistance from the Department of Finance is thus requested to commence discussions with the counterparts in Korea," he said.

KOICA has expressed interest in funding the conduct of studies and formulation of an IT Road Map for the Philippine Judiciary. It reported that the group provided $18.7 million this year for various Philippine projects.

For digital projects, Uy said a clear five-year roadmap must be identified as the Korean e-justice system effectively took decades to refine and develop.

He also recommended hiring a consulting firm to clearly define the requirements of the modernization of the Philippine Supreme Court that oversees the country's judiciary.

Uy stressed the need to clearly understand South Korea's judicial system and find similarities that may be adapted to the Philippine court system.

"Learning from the Vietnam case study, after completion of the project, there should be a minimum of three years of maintenance and consultation to follow in order to ensure the projects are sustainable for the long term," he said.

South Korea is also aiding Vietnam in carrying out e-Court project composed of three phases: Training, establishment of fundamental infrastructure, and three-year maintenance and consulting.

Among the mission's itinerary was a visit to the ROK Supreme Court and its IT Center, a briefing on the ROK e-Litigation System, a familiarization tour of the Seoul Central District Court, and a meeting with KOICA officials and with the National Information Society Agency (NIA).

The ROK SC began the development of its Judicial IT System as early as 1979, commencing its e-Court System in 1998 and completing it in 2019.

Since then, several modifications have been made to upgrade its system to allow trials through video conferences, achieve 100 percent paperless operations, and effectively use it during the Covid-19 pandemic.

South Korea's justice officials expressed willingness to support the Philippine judiciary modernization program by sharing their technology and experience on best practices through a Knowledge Sharing Program (KSP).