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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider PH remains a 'valued partner' of South Korea despite loan deal suspension—embassy

PH remains a 'valued partner' of South Korea despite loan deal suspension—embassy

Published Sep 13, 2025 08:29 am
South Korea President Lee Jae-myung announces in a Facebook post the cancellation of Philippine loan deal for a bridge project.
South Korea President Lee Jae-myung announces in a Facebook post the cancellation of Philippine loan deal for a bridge project.
The South Korean Embassy in the Philippines maintained that despite the suspension of a feasibility study on a possible loan deal with the country, Manila remains to be “one of Korea's most valued partners.”

“Despite current circumstances, the Philippines remains one of Korea's most valued partners, and Korea remains fully committed to advancing development cooperation partnerships between our two countries,” the embassy said in a statement posted on Facebook on Friday, Sept. 12.

The embassy further clarified that “the suspension of the feasibility study on the project in question is unrelated to the Philippine Government,” referring to the reported cancellation of a 700-billion won (P28.7 billion) infrastructure loan to the Philippines announced by South Korean President Lee Jae-myung himself on Facebook.

Instead, the embassy explained that “this decision was made solely to allow for the verification of matters that had been raised in Korean media reports.”

“The project in question will be put on hold until further notice,” it added.

In Lee’s post, he shared a South Korean news report that described the “PBBM Bridges” project—which would build some 350 modular bridges in rural areas nationwide—as a “poor project” and raised concerns about “corruption.”

This announcement came amid the anomalous flood control projects—worth billions of pesos—that prompted investigations by the Senate and House of Representatives.

The Department of Finance (DOF) earlier denied the existence of the loan application, but the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) confirmed that there was an initial meeting with South Korean officials about the project.

Based on the deliberations for the DAR’s current 2025 budget, the “PBBM Bridges” project would be funded through P23 billion in foreign loans and P5 billion from the Philippines’ coffers.

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