Jeong Dongyoung to Visit Mongolia, Which Communicates with North Korea, to Deliver Speech on "Peaceful Coexistence on the Korean Peninsula"

Jeong Dongyoung, Minister of Unification, will visit Mongolia, a country that maintains communication channels with North Korea, to present the government's vision for peace policy on the Korean Peninsula.

Jeong Dongyoung, Minister of Unification, is meeting with the European Parliament Delegation for Korean Peninsula Affairs at the Inter-Korean Dialogue Headquarters on the 28th of last month. Photo by Yonhap News

According to the Ministry of Unification on June 2, Minister Jeong will visit Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia from June 3 to June 6 to attend the 11th 'Ulaanbaatar Dialogue on Northeast Asian Security.' On June 4, he will deliver a special address at the opening ceremony under the theme of "The Path to Peaceful Coexistence on the Korean Peninsula and Joint Prosperity in Northeast Asia." The Ministry of Unification explained that the speech will outline the direction and implementation strategies of the government's peace policy, as well as plans for peace and security cooperation in Northeast Asia. This is the first time a Minister of Unification is visiting Mongolia.

The Ministry of Unification stated that during his stay, Minister Jeong will meet with Mongolia's President, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and other high-ranking government officials to discuss ways to advance peace on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia. An official from the Ministry commented, "Mongolia has consistently expressed its willingness to play an active role in promoting peace on the Korean Peninsula."

In particular, Mongolia is a country where both South Korea and North Korea operate resident embassies and maintains communication channels with the North. At a time when North Korea has declared South Korea an "enemy state" and refuses inter-Korean dialogue, the government appears to be seeking international consensus on its policy of peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula by engaging with Mongolia, which continues to communicate with North Korea.

However, North Korea has not yet expressed its intention to participate in this year's Ulaanbaatar Dialogue. North Korea sent representatives from its foreign ministry-affiliated research institutes to the meetings from 2014 to 2018 but has not participated since 2019.

The Ulaanbaatar Dialogue is a multilateral Northeast Asian security dialogue platform (Track 1.5, semi-official and semi-civil) led by the Mongolian government. This year, approximately 250 participants, including government and academic representatives from 25 countries as well as members of international organizations, are expected to attend. The Ministry of Unification expects that Minister Jeong's visit will help increase international understanding of the government's policy of peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula and expand the foundation for related cooperation.

Meanwhile, during his visit to Mongolia, Minister Jeong also plans to visit the memorial hall of independence activist Lee Taejun and lay flowers in tribute.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.