Putin invites Duterte to meet in South Korea

TOKYO – President Duterte revealed last Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin had invited him to a meeting in South Korea.

Duterte did not provide details about the invitation, which was announced a month after a historic summit between Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons.

“I’ve been invited to Korea again by Putin, President Putin. I’m trying to figure out if it’s not so much,” Duterte told members of the Filipino community here.

The Philippines and South Korea inked more than 20 government-to-government agreements and business deals during Duterte’s visit to Seoul last June.

Signed were agreements on science and technology, infrastructure development, renewable energy deployment, trade and economic relations, transportation, forestry and communications.

Also signed were more than 20 deals between Philippine and South Korean firms that were expected to bring in about $4.8 billion worth of investments and create as many as 25,000 jobs.

Duterte also said he and his delegation are taking commercial flights because Philippine Airlines’ chartered flight costs P5 million a day.