President Lee asks Mongolia to step up cooperation on minerals and defense, while the Mongolian prime minister says the CEPA is highly significant

[Financial News Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia = Reporter Seong Seok-woo]President Lee Jae-myung met with Prime Minister Nyam-Osor Uchral on the 10th local time, following his meeting with Speaker of the National Assembly Sandag Byambatsogt, and called for follow-up action on cooperation in the economy, minerals and the defense industry.
During the meeting at a hotel in downtown Ulaanbaatar, Lee said, "I am truly glad that we can prepare for a new era between Korea and Mongolia," adding, "I hope we can work together to practically build the golden era for Korea and Mongolia that the Mongolian president has spoken about."
He added, "Since you are in charge of the working-level coordination, I hope you will also take good care of the various items we agreed on yesterday, especially economic exchanges, mineral cooperation and defense industry cooperation."
Speaking about sentiment toward Korea in Mongolia, Lee said, "I walked around downtown last night and met many people today at the Victory Monument. I could feel that Mongolian people have a very high level of goodwill toward Korea and great expectations for this summit." He added, "I ask the prime minister to play a major role in building a new Korea-Mongolia relationship and a golden era for our two countries."
In response, Uchral said, "As prime minister, I find it very meaningful that about 20 documents were signed between the two governments and institutions during this state visit." He added, "I will instruct the relevant ministers to implement the matters discussed and agreed upon at the summit and will do my best to produce tangible results."
Uchral also expressed strong expectations for cooperation on critical minerals. He said, "I led the chief delegation in the CEPA negotiations between our two countries, so I know very well how significant the conclusion of the CEPA is." He stressed, "It is important to create opportunities for Mongolia to process and produce mineral resources using Korean technology."
Uchral also recalled the Mongolia-Korea Economic Forum held in Korea during his tenure as Mongolia's deputy prime minister, saying discussions were held on cooperation in artificial intelligence, information and communications, and rare earths. He also mentioned exchanges between the Mongolian state-owned company Erdenes Mongol and POSCO, as well as talks on establishing processing plants in Mongolia.

west@fnnews.com Seong Seok-woo Reporter