Overview
- President Lee arrived in Ulaanbaatar on Thursday for a three-day state visit that is the first South Korean presidential state visit to Mongolia in 15 years.
- Lee and Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh held an opening summit and planned a joint declaration to launch a “golden age” of ties followed by a Korea‑Mongolia business forum and Naadam participation.
- At the NATO summit in Ankara earlier this week, Lee proposed joint defense research and operations and agreed with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to start negotiations on a basic procurement agreement.
- In an interview released on his arrival, Lee framed a phased approach to denuclearization and normalization on the Korean Peninsula and called Mongolia a 'trusted partner' that can help bridge the divided Koreas.
- Seoul aims to pair Mongolia’s mineral wealth with Korean technology to build secure supply chains and to open NATO’s large procurement market to Korean firms, but both the procurement accord and the mechanics of any phased denuclearization remain under negotiation.