South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and Mongolian President Tsakhia Elbegdorj reached the agreement during summit talks in Ulan Bator. After the summit, the two leaders issued a joint statement and adopted a mid-term action plan providing guidelines for bilateral cooperation.
Lee arrived in the Mongolian capital on Sunday for a three-day state visit as part of a three-nation tour of Central Asia, a region that is rich in resources and business opportunities and carries strategic significance as a bridge between Asia and Europe.
Lee is scheduled to visit Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan later this week.
"The two leaders agreed to expand and develop cooperative relations in all areas in accordance with the principle of a comprehensive partnership after sharing an understanding that deepening and moving their relations forward would play a key role in cooperation and prosperity not only in the Republic of Korea and Mongolia, but also in the region," the joint statement said.
Under the agreement, the two sides agreed to hold summit and other high-level talks more often and have their foreign ministers meet every year to discuss bilateral relations and other issues of mutual interest in regional cooperation, the statement said.
The statement also said that the two countries agreed to expand defense cooperation.
Mongolia is the world's seventh-largest country in terms of resources and energy.
The "action plan" called for expanding South Korea's investment in Mongolia's infrastructure and construction sectors, including South Korean firms' participation in a project to build 100,000 apartment units. It also calls for the two countries to jointly develop mineral resources.
The two countries also agreed to set up a joint resources and energy commission.
The Mongolian leader expressed gratitude for South Korea's support for his
nation's efforts to strengthen democracy and national development, and Lee
agreed to continue to help Mongolia bolster democracy and develop a market
economy, the statement said.
On economic relations, the two countries
agreed to expand cooperation in a mutually supplementary fashion, especially in
such areas as mineral resources, infrastructure, energy, heavy industry,
construction, health care, agriculture, environment and human resources
development.
They also agreed to expand air routes and simplify the
visa process to increase people-to-people exchanges.
On security
issues, Mongolia welcomed last month's talks between the chief nuclear envoys of
South and North Korea and expressed support for Seoul's efforts to resolve the
nuclear standoff and resume inter-Korean dialogue, the statement said.
The two sides also expressed concern over Pyongyang's uranium enrichment program
and agreed that a complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of
North Korea is significant for peace and stability in the region and the
international nonproliferation regime, the statement said.
South Korea
agreed to positively consider Mongolia's ascension to the Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC) forum, and Mongolia expressed its willingness to join the
East Asia Summit, the statement said.
The two sides also agreed to
work closely together on terrorism, nonproliferation, sustainable development
and other global issues, the statement said.
After the summit, the two
countries signed agreements to increase cooperation in health care and mineral
resources.
Later in the day, Lee was to meet with Prime Minister
Sukhbaatar Batbold and Parliamentary Speaker Damdin Demberel. Also scheduled are
meetings with younger generations of Mongolia and South Korean residents living
here.
South Korea and Mongolia established relations in 1990. Now,
South Korea is Mongolia's fourth-largest trading partner, with bilateral trade
volume amounting to US$230 million last year, a 85-fold increase from $2.71
million in 1990.
Source: Yonhap News (August 22, 2011)