A New Page In History Ambassador of South Korea talks about forthcoming visit of Park Geun-hye to Mongolia
Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Korea to Mongolia Oh Song has given a report in connection with an upcoming visit of Park Geun-hye, the President of South Korea to Mongolia for taking part in the 11th ASEM Summit.
“ASEM(the Asia-Europe Meeting) has special ties with Korea in that Seoul was the venue for the Third Meeting in 2000. This multilateral summit meeting was the first of its kind to be held in Korea. I myself was personally involved in the preparations for the meeting in Seoul at that time. I witnessed the construction of the new facilities for the conferences and the renovation of the hotels and roads to accommodate all the participants to ensure the successful holding of the meeting.
The effect was indeed tremendous in terms of the aspect of building confidence in the hosting of large-scale international events as well as the aspect of putting in place highly advanced facilities. Examples of other large-scale events which Korea subsequently hosted include the APEC(Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) Summit in 2005, G20 Summit in 2010 and Nuclear Security Summit in 2012, to name a few. We could enjoy our enhanced standing in the international arena and gain economic benefits for the Korean people. ASEM generated momentum for the development of the MICE(meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) industry in Korea,” the Ambassador said.
“In this connection, Mongolia has good reasons to successfully host the upcoming ASEM, which I am sure will write a new page in history. Mongolia’s international standing is to be further enhanced and the Mongolian people’s pockets will also get fatter. In the capacity of Resident Ambassador, it is my great pleasure and honor to participate in ASEM and to see our president paying the official visit here. I would like to extend, on behalf of the Korean Government and People, my sincere congratulations to the Mongolian Government and People on the excellent preparations for the holding of a successful ASEM. We will lend full support to the Mongolian Government to this end.
Now, I would like to turn to the bilateral relationship between Korea and Mongolia. The two countries, which share close ties like brothers and sisters, enjoy a comprehensive partnership based upon an ethnically, culturally and emotionally close identity over a long history. This partnership has been strengthened in many areas including the political, economic and trade, social and cultural areas since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1990. The people-to-people exchanges between our two countries have in particular contributed to the rapid development of the bilateral relationship,”
“There are currently 30,000 Mongolians living in Korea, which is 1% of the total population of 3 million and also comprises 20% of the total 150,000 Mongolians residing overseas. The more than 4,000 Mongolian students in Korea are the fourth largest in terms of the number, but they are the largest In terms of the percentage of the total population. Some 4,500 Mongolian students also study the Korean language at university here. Especially, the number of Mongolians returning here after spending over a couple of years in Korea is 300,000, which accounts for 10 percent of the total population. The vibrant human exchanges are an excellent asset in our diplomatic relations,”
“President Ts Elbegdorj visited Korea in May and President Park Geun-hye will make an official visit to Mongolia on the occasion of the ASEM summit in Ulaanbaatar this week. The reciprocal visits by the two presidents within only two months are exceptional and serve to illustrate the increasing importance of the bilateral relationship. Mongolia, connecting Asia and Europe, is located at the center of Eurasia. It is at times seen as part of Northeast Asia, at other times Central Asia. Therefore, we can’t deal with Eurasian matters of interest without paying attention to Mongolia, whose strategic importance is increasing as Korea continues to extend its international cooperation in this direction,”
"Mongolia, only three hours away from Seoul by airplane, is a very close country. President Park is to have in-depth discussions with President Ts. Elbegdorj on how to further deepen the solid ties of cooperation between Korea and Mongolia. Our two countries, recognizing the rapid development of the bonds achieved during the short time since the establishment of diplomatic relationship, have great potential to enhance the relations in the future. On the occasion of President Park’s upcoming visit to Ulaanbaatar, we believe that we will open a new chapter for a further improved comprehensive partnership deepening the friendship between the two peoples and strengthening mutually-beneficial cooperative projects between Korea and Mongolia,"