Unification Minister Jeong Dong-young to visit Mongolia for Northeast Asia security dialogue

Unification Minister Jeong Dong-young will travel to Mongolia on Tuesday to deliver a special address at the 11th Ulaanbaatar Dialogue on Northeast Asian Security, scheduled for Thursday in the Mongolian capital.

According to the Ministry of Unification, Jeong will speak at the opening ceremony on the theme of "the path to peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula and shared prosperity in Northeast Asia." His address is expected to cover South Korea's peaceful coexistence policy toward the North, ways to institutionalize inter-Korean peaceful coexistence, and how those efforts can contribute to peace and security across Northeast Asia. The visit marks the first time a South Korean unification minister has traveled to Mongolia and comes in response to a formal invitation from the Mongolian government.

The Ulaanbaatar Dialogue is a multilateral security forum for Northeast Asia that Mongolia has hosted since 2014. The annual conference brings together government officials, academics and representatives of international organizations from across the region to discuss peace and security cooperation in Northeast Asia.

The 11th dialogue runs Thursday through Friday at the Ulaanbaatar Hotel event hall. Topics on the agenda include security challenges and opportunities for peace in Northeast Asia, preventive diplomacy and mediation, emerging security issues, and connectivity and green cooperation between Northeast Asia and Central Asia. About 250 participants from 25 countries are expected to attend. North Korea has not yet indicated whether it will send a delegation.

A Ministry of Unification official said Mongolia maintains a diplomatic mission in Pyongyang and keeps regular communication channels open with the North Korean government. "Ri Yong-pil, deputy director of the Foreign Ministry's Institute for American Studies, attended the Ulaanbaatar Dialogue in 2017, and Kim Yong-guk, director of the Foreign Ministry's Institute for Disarmament and Peace, attended in 2018," the official said.

During his four-day visit, Jeong is scheduled to meet with senior Mongolian government officials to exchange views on bilateral cooperation to advance peace on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia. He also plans to visit a memorial hall dedicated to Yi Tae-jun, a Korean independence activist who worked in Mongolia, where he will lay flowers and reflect on the significance of Korea's independence movement.