President Lee Jae-myung landed in Ulaanbaatar on the morning of July 9 (local time), beginning a three-day state visit to Mongolia, the first by a South Korean president in 15 years. The trip follows his attendance at the NATO summit in Turkey and was arranged at the invitation of Mongolian President Okhna Khurelsukh.
At Chinggis Khaan International Airport, Lee and first lady Kim Hye-gyung were met by Mongolia's Foreign Minister Battsetseg and South Korea's Ambassador to Mongolia, among others. The centerpiece of the visit is a summit with Khurelsukh, to be followed by an agreement-and-MOU signing ceremony and a joint press statement. The two leaders are also expected to issue a joint declaration titled 'Golden Era of Korea-Mongolia Relations,' laying out a bilateral vision.
Critical-mineral supply chains top the agenda. Wi Sung-lac, director of the National Security Office at Cheong Wa Dae (the South Korean presidential office), told reporters in a pre-visit briefing that Mongolia is a resource-rich country holding abundant key minerals, and said the summit could strengthen cooperation on rare earths and other supply chains. Additional agenda items reported by Newsis include food security, health, science and technology, and joint responses to yellow-dust pollution.
Mongolia's ties to North Korea give the visit a second strategic dimension. Wi noted that Mongolia was the second country to establish diplomatic relations with Pyongyang after the Soviet Union, and said Seoul hopes the visit can help build a partnership for Korean Peninsula peace. According to Hankyoreh, Wi specifically said the two sides would explore 'feasible ways to resume dialogue with North Korea.'
On the evening of July 9, Lee is scheduled to deliver a keynote address at a Korea-Mongolia Business Forum attended by government and corporate officials from both countries. On July 10 he will visit a memorial to Yi Tae-jun, a Korean independence activist who practiced medicine in Mongolia, before meeting with the Korean community there and attending a state banquet hosted by Khurelsukh. The visit concludes on July 11, when Lee will join Khurelsukh as a guest of honor at the opening of Naadam, Mongolia's largest national festival celebrating freedom and independence. It is the first time a South Korean president has been invited to the event in that role.