President Park Geun-hye, who is making an official visit to Mongolia following the 11th ASEM Summit held there, met with President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj this morning. In their summit, the two presidents discussed how to promote substantive bilateral cooperation and how to work together on regional and international affairs, including issues involving the Korean Peninsula.

The two heads of state first noted the great progress of the Korea-Mongolia Comprehensive Partnership established in 2011 in a wide range of areas. They agreed to continue to work together to further advance bilateral relations while completely fulfilling the potential for cooperation in the future.

Next, President Park expressed appreciation to President Elbegdorj for having so far backed zero tolerance for the North’s nuclear armament and supported the peaceful unification of the Korean Peninsula as well as playing a leading role in ensuring that a strong message toward North Korea was reflected in the Chair`s Statement. In reply, President Elbegdorj reconfirmed that his country would steadfastly maintain its positions against the North`s possession of nuclear weapons and in support of the promotion of peace and stability in Northeast Asia. He also made it clear that Mongolia would continue to maintain and advance cooperation with Korea.

Concerning economic cooperation, President Elbegdorj said that he was pleased that the economic partnership between the two nations has been enhanced; Korea has become the fourth largest trading partner with Mongolia and investments by Korean businesses in the nation have increased. He continued to emphasize that it was crucial to push ahead with the pursuit of an Economic Partnership Agreement to further promote trade and investments between the two nations. Noting that it was gratifying for the two sides to agree on initiating a joint study on a bilateral EPA, President Park said she hoped that the efforts would create a huge synergy between the two nations and lead to the expansion of trade and investment.

Then, the President asked for her Mongolian counterpart’s interest so that Korean companies could participate in building power plants in the country, including the smooth pursuit of the fifth power plant project, and other various ventures for the expansion of electricity infrastructure, including the formation of power grids.

In addition, the two leaders also discussed how to enhance substantive cooperation on issues related to the Mongolian workers in Korea, the operation of additional flights between the two nations and the expansion of cultural exchanges.