1 February 2023 - Ambassador of the Philippines to the Republic of Korea Theresa Dizon-De Vega paid a courtesy call on His Eminence Peter Chung Soon-Taick, Archbishop of Seoul, on 1 February 2023 at the Myeongdong Cathedral offices in Jung-gu, Seoul.

Archbishop Peter Chung Soon-Taick expressed his appreciation for the active Filipino Catholic community in Korea and noted that the Filipino Catholic community is an exemplary and vibrant migrant Catholic community. Ambassador De Vega noted that the Seoul Filipino Catholic Community is now three decades strong and continues to play an active role in furthering the Catholic faith not just through the observance of church practices but also in apostolic work mainly through providing assistance to Filipinos and other migrants, working with welfare groups, promoting Filipino culture, and assisting multicultural families. Archbishop Peter Chung Soon-Taick also appreciated the secretariat work of the Filipino clergy in major episcopal conferences in Asia, befitting the Philippines’ status as the largest Catholic country in Asia. 

Ambassador Dizon-De Vega also shared with the Archbishop the Embassy’s plans and projects for the Filipino community in Korea in 2023 and invited the Archbishop to visit the St. Andrew Kim Taegon shrine, now a Diocesan shrine, in Lolomboy,Bocaue, Bulacan in the Philippines when the opportunity permits. St. Andrew Kim Taegon is the first Korean-born Catholic priest and is the patron saint of the Korean clergy. During St. Andrew Kim Taegon’s seminary years, he spent time in Bulacan, Philippines where a shrine honoring his memory is now located. END