By William Casis | FilAm Star Correspondent

The ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino – Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) has offered its services to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to help improve the Philippines’ ties with North Korea or the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

The statement came on the heels of the summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and DPRK Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore last June 12.

“As part of our independent foreign policy, the Philippines should not hesitate to reframe our relations with countries that we have not significantly engaged with in the past”, said Energy Sec. and PDP Laban National Vice-chairman Alfonso Cusi.

The Philippines and the DPRK established formal relations on July 12, 2000, when then Foreign Affairs Sec. Domingo Siazon, Jr. and DPRK Ambassador to Thailand Jo In-chol signed a joint communique declaring the establishment of relations at the ambassadorial level.

Cusi noted that the PDP Laban is ready to do its part to facilitate closer ties with the DPRK.

“In fact, our Party will send a delegation to Pyongyang, led by our Vice-president for International Affairs, Sec. Raul Lambino, to meet with their counterparts from the Workers’ Party of Korea.”

The Workers’ Party is the ruling party of the DPRK.

Cusi related that the PDP-Laban delegation is charged with the task of forging closer party-to-party and people-to-people ties between the two countries.

“We offer to the DFA our services to help establish more formal relations between our governments.”

PDP Laban has also previously established formal ties with the Communist Party of China and United Russia.