President Moon Jae-in and Mongolian President Khaltmaa Battulga held a summit for an hour from 6:40 this evening on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum in Russia. They engaged in extensive discussions on ways to enhance substantive cooperation between Korea and Mongolia, the North Korean nuclear issue, recent developments surrounding the Korean Peninsula, regional security and measures to promote economic collaboration.

President Moon began by saying that more stringent sanctions should be taken through the United Nations against North Korea to make it stop provocations and return to negotiations. He went on to say that it was inevitable to impose tougher sanctions against the North through a UN Security Council resolution, asking his Mongolian counterpart for active cooperation in adopting a resolution to ban oil supplies to the North.

President Moon said that if the North came forward for dialogue and abandoned its nuclear development, the South would pursue cooperative projects to promote economic growth in the North and make enhanced efforts to help the North Korean regime remain stable.

In reply, the Mongolian President said that upon returning to Mongolia, he would promptly hold a meeting to discuss the matter of the North`s nuclear test and inform President Moon of the results. He noted that he would more actively utilize the Ulaanbaatar Dialogue on this issue. The President went on to say that he could relate to the pain of Korea as his country was also divided into Inner Mongolia and Outer Mongolia. 

President Moon also explained about ways to establish a Northeast Asian peace and cooperation platform for major countries in the region to discuss how to enhance security cooperation amid rising geographical tension in Northeast Asia. President Battulga expressed the intention of the Mongolian Government to actively contribute to the resolution of security issues in Northeast Asia, including the North Korean nuclear problem, building upon his personal experience in visiting the North several times.

President Moon said if a Northeast Asian peace and cooperation platform were established in which the United States, Japan, China and Russia as well as Mongolia participated, it could be linked to the Ulaanbaatar Dialogue organized by Mongolia.