Unification minister delivers special address in Ulaanbaatar
Unification Minister Chung Dong-young, visiting Mongolia for a Northeast Asian security dialogue, called on Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh and proposed that South Korea, North Korea and Mongolia "work together to explore trilateral cooperation," the Ministry of Unification said Friday.
Chung delivered a special address Thursday at the 11th Ulaanbaatar Dialogue on Northeast Asian Security before meeting with President Khurelsukh, Foreign Minister Batmunkh Battsetseg and members of the Mongolian parliament affiliated with the Korea-Mongolia Friendship Association. He also held a roundtable with former Mongolian ambassadors to North Korea and exchanged views broadly on Korean Peninsula issues.
President Khurelsukh expressed gratitude to Chung for being the first foreign minister-level official to attend the Ulaanbaatar Dialogue — now in its 11th year — and for raising the forum's profile through his special address. The president also said the South Korea-Mongolia relationship "is entering a golden era" and declared "firm support for the South Korean government's Korean Peninsula peace coexistence policy."
Mongolian Foreign Minister Battsetseg said there were "many points of convergence" between Mongolia's policies — including its nuclear-weapon-free zone status and "third neighbor" policy — and South Korea's Korean Peninsula peace coexistence policy. She expressed willingness to cooperate for peace on the peninsula and in Northeast Asia. In response, Chung said Mongolia, having built friendly and cooperative ties with both Koreas, was "the ideal partner for peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia." He urged Mongolia to "continue encouraging North Korea to participate in the Ulaanbaatar Dialogue and similar forums," and proposed that the two sides "work together on the basis of brotherhood to explore trilateral South Korea-North Korea-Mongolia cooperation."
The government said the visit "raised international awareness of the Korean Peninsula peace coexistence policy" and that it would "build on this foundation to develop practical cooperation measures with Mongolia and the broader international community to advance peace on the Korean Peninsula."
Meanwhile, in his special address Thursday, Chung proposed four-party talks, saying, "To sustain peace on the Korean Peninsula, we must end the armistice regime and establish a Korean Peninsula peace regime." He added, "We can initiate four-party dialogue among the Republic of Korea, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the United States and China."
moone@heraldcorp.com
