The government has reactivated its Rapid Response Team (RRT) in South Korea amid the worsening security situation in the Korean peninsula, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said Friday.
"We have already reactivated our RRT in South Korea as in line with our evacuation plan," Gazmin told The STAR at the sideline of the official opening of this year's Philippines-US Balikatan (Should-to-Shoulder) exercises held at Camp Aguinaldo.
The Philippine-RRT in South Korea was activated three years ago by the Philippine embassy when the North Koreans shelled a South Korean island, triggering heavy artillery exchanges.
North Korea has threatened a nuclear war against South Korea and the US, alarming the Philippines which has around 40,000 nationals in South Korea.
Gazmin said the RRT was reactivated to plan for the smooth evacuation of Filipinos in an event war between the two Koreas.
Two of the three C-130 cargo planes of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) have been placed on standby by the PAF leadership for possible humanitarian deployment to South Korea.
The Philippine Navy (PN) and the Philippine Coast Guard have also alerted five of its vessels, ready to embark on a seven-day voyage to South Korea to evacuate Filipinos.
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