1. On May 24, the Foreign Ministry issued a 60-day special travel advisory for the Philippine cities of Cagayan de Oro and Davao in an effort to better protect the Korean nationals in the Mindanao area, where martial law had been declared.

2. Meanwhile, public insecurity continues in Marawi City, the Philippine province of Lanao del Sur in the Mindanao area, amid continued armed clashes between pro-government forces of the Philippines and the Islamic State-linked Maute Group.

° In response to the situation, Philippine President Duterte made a request of the parliament that the martial law in Mindanao remain in place till December 31, 2017, which the parliament accepted at its extraordinary session on July 22.

※ The Philippine government announced that as of July 22, 578 people had been killed -- 105 government soldiers, 428 from the Maute Group, and 45 civilians, respectively.

3. Judging that public insecurity could continue in Marawi city and the other parts of Mindanao, the ROK Foreign Ministry has decided to keep its special travel advisory for the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Davao until December 31, 2017, in an effort to better protect the Korean nationals there.

° The special travel advisory is tantamount to the travel-alert level of “Red Alert (Travel Restricted),” which calls for cancelling or postponing, if possible, the plan to visit the designated area(s), or leaving the area(s) unless there are urgent matters to attend to.

※ The other parts of Mindanao are already under a special travel warning on a par with “Black Alert (Travel Banned).”

* Travel advisories for different parts of the Philippines
- Blue Alert (Precautious): Subic, Boracay/Bohol and Mactan (Lapu-Lapu)
- Yellow Alert (Highly Cautious): Regions under neither Blue nor Red Alert
- Red Alert (Travel Restricted): Region south of Puerto Princesa, Palawan
- Black Alert (Travel Banned): Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi
- Special travel alert (tantamount to Red Alert): Davao and Cagayan de Or, Mindanao
- Special travel warning (tantamount to Black Alert): Mindanao except for Davao and Cagayan de Or

4. The Foreign Ministry will continue monitoring the public security situation in Mindanao, the Philippines, and mull over whether the special travel advisory should remain in place.


* unofficial translation