No alert level in South Korea amid political tensions — DFA

Metro Manila, Philippines – There is no alert level for Filipinos in South Korea amid political tensions, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday, Dec. 4

South Korean President Yoon Suk Seol declared an emergency martial law late Tuesday over a dispute with the opposition party which he called “anti-state forces.” The order was reversed hours later after the parliament unanimously rejected the declaration.

In a government TV program, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said Filipinos in Korea remain calm  all 78,000 of them both documented and undocumented.

“Iyong mga Filipino na nagtatrabaho sa South Korea, alam nila iyong mga peculiar conditions doon…Kagabi pa lang noong dineklara ang martial law hindi naman nag-panic ang mga Filipino. Sinabihan lang ng ating embassy na take care lang at sumunod sa direktiba ng local authorities,” said De Vega.

[Translation: Filipinos working in South Korea are aware of the peculiar conditions there... Just last night when martial law was declared, the Filipinos did not panic. They were just advised by our embassy to take care and follow the directives of the local authorities.]

De Vega said the Philippine embassy in Seoul and the Migrant Workers attache are in coordination with Filipino leaders there to assess their situation.

While the government has not imposed a travel ban to Korea, he gave advice to those planning to book their trips to the north Asian country.

“Isa sa palaging pinupuntahan ng turista iyong border sa North Korea, malapit lang iyan sa Seoul…Baka minsan sinasara yun. So iyon isa sa planuhin nila,” he said.

[Translation: One of the places tourists always visit is the border near North Korea, which is close to Seoul... Sometimes it might be closed. So that’s something they need to plan for.]