South Korea to open consulate in Cebu

Lee Ki-seog
(CDN PHOTO /CHRISTIAN MANINGO)

Cebuanos who want to visit Korea will no longer need to fly to Manila to get a visa while Korean residents in the region who need consular assistance will have their needs attended to in the neighborhood.

The Republic of Korea will be opening a consular office in Cebu City by February or March next year. “The Korean Consular Office in Cebu will open next year in order to deliver more efficient services to the Koreans in the province. We will continue to do our best to strengthen our rights and better serve the interests of everyone,” said Cebu Korean Association Inc. (CKAI) President Bong Hwan “Charlie” Cho in a speech during their annual general membership assembly last Tuesday evening.

He said there are at least 35,000 Koreans living in Cebu.

Last year, he said they recorded around 400,000 Koreans visiting Cebu to learn English.

He said the consular office will be located in the Cebu Business Park.  “There are also many Filipinos here who want to go to Korea. So when we open our new consulate office, they won’t have to go to Manila. They can get a visa here. It’s convenient for them and also convenient for us to oversee Korean residents here,” Cho said.

The assembly, which was held at the Waterfront Hotel, was attended by more than 300 Korean nationals.

According to Consul General Lee Gi-Seok, opening a mission in Cebu City was among the agreements between President Aquino and the Korean president when Aquino visited Korea a year or two years ago.

“The Korean people want to open the Korean consulate for a long time. And your government wants to have Korean Consulate here in Cebu. Your president visited Korea last year or two years ago. One of the agreements between the two presidents is to open consulate in Cebu City. So we came here,” Lee said.

He added that opening up a Korean mission usually takes almost a year of preparation.

But for Cebu, they only did it in around six months.

With a new consulate, Lee said honorary consul general to Korea Augusto Go cannot continue his job under Philippine regulations.

“But our government wants to retain him. He’s a very great man and he loves Korea a lot,” Lee said.

Security of Koreans was also a major concern for the establishment of the mission, he added. “Last year, there were lots of accidents that happened here such as killing, suicide, robbery and theft. The reason why we open our new consulate is that we want to protect our Korean people right here,” he said.

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