Duterte to DPRK foreign minister: We’d be good dialogue partners

August 8, 2017

President Rodrigo Duterte said on Tuesday that the Philippines and Democratic People's Republic of Korea would be "good dialogue partners."

Duterte told this to Foreign Minister Ri Yong-Ho during the "meet and greet" with the foreign diplomats prior to the program of the grand celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and closing ceremony of the 50th AMM.

"We would be good dialogue partners," he said.

It could be recalled that shortly before the 50th AMM, Duterte criticized North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for "playing with dangerous toys." He even called Kim as "crazy."

The Korean Peninsula situation was one of the biggest issues discussed during the AMM and Related Meetings in Manila.

Despite the presence of Ri, other foreign ministers expressed their "grave concerns" over DPRK's ballistic missile launches.

Ri, in a statement released here on Monday, said North Korea would not abandon its nuclear program and missile tests, saying it is a "war deterrence to put an end to the nuclear threat of the US and prevent the military invasion of the US." Celerina Monte/DMS