Mongolia–North Korea relations explained

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Mongolia–North Korea relations (Mongolian: Монгол, БНАСАУ-ын харилцаа, Korean: 몽골-조선민주주의인민공화국 관계) are the historic and current bilateral relations between Mongolia and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea).

History

Early relationship and Korean War

The two countries established diplomatic relations on October 15, 1948. The People's Republic of Mongolia was the second country to recognize North Korea after the Soviet Union.[1] Mongolia provided assistance to North Korea during the Korean War, although it did not directly participate. In 1952, during the Korean War, North Korea sent 200 war orphans to Mongolia. Today in Ulaanbaatar, there are remnants of a two-story "North Korean War Orphanage" building remains.[2] Mongolia also contributed to the post-war reconstruction of the DPRK. On the basis of an aid agreement signed at the end of 1953, the Mongolian government sent 10,000 horses to North Korea.[3] After the war, Mongolia received and brought up more than 400 war-orphaned children in 1960–1970s.[4]

Cold War

From 1960 to the mid-1980s, the Sino-Soviet split – in which Mongolia adopted a consistently pro-Soviet stance, whereas the DPRK's standpoint was usually closer to the Chinese position than to the Soviet one – considerably hindered Mongolian-North Korean cooperation. On several occasions, these disagreements led to various forms of low-intensity friction in Mongolian-DPRK relations.[5] Thanks to the post-1982 improvement of Sino-Soviet relations, in 1986 Mongolia and North Korea signed their first friendship and cooperation treaty.[6] Kim Il Sung also paid a visit to the country in 1988.[7]

Post-1990

After the collapse of the Communist regime in Mongolia, relations became strained. The two countries nullified their earlier friendship and cooperation treaty in 1995, and in 1999, North Korea shut down their embassy in Ulaanbaatar on the occasion of an official visit from Kim Dae-jung, the first such visit by a South Korean president. Mongolia had previously expelled two North Korean diplomats for attempting to pass counterfeit United States one-hundred dollar bills.[8] [9] Subsequently, Mongolia began to intensify its policy of engagement with North Korea, with the aim of improving relations.[10] In 2002, Paek Nam Sun became the first North Korean foreign minister to visit Mongolia in 14 years. The most recent high-level visit occurred in July 2007, when Kim Yong-nam, Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, made his third visit to the country; he had previously made two trips to Mongolia, in 1985 and 1988.

Unofficially, North Korean visitors show significant interest in studying Mongolia's economic reforms; according to the Mongolian side, North Koreans see them as non-threatening because they are a fellow non-Western country and went through similar experiences under communism.[11] Mongolia's efforts to introduce free-market capitalism to North Korea also have a component of self-interest. The Trans-Siberian Railway, an essential link in the potential continuous rail transit route from South Korea to Europe, passes through Mongolia; North Korean economic liberalisation which allowed South Korean shipping to pass through its borders would remove the major stumbling block to such a route, providing economic benefits for Mongolia.[12]

North Korean refugees are a delicate issue between the two governments. In 2005, South Korean charity groups received from the Mongolian government an allocation of 1.3 square kilometres of land at an unspecified location 40 kilometres outside of Ulan Bator to establish a refugee camp.[13] However, as of November 2006, Miyeegombyn Enkhbold, Mongolia's prime minister, officially denied the existence of such camps. One scholar estimated that 500 North Korean refugees enter Mongolia each month, along with some legal migrant labourers who come under an inter-governmental agreement to work in light industry and infrastructure projects.[14]

In 2013, the Mongolian President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj visited North Korea, and the two countries expanded economic ties, particularly with regard to oil refining.[15] [16] In October 2018, North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un received an official invitation to pay a visit to Mongolia by President Khaltmaagiin Battulga.[17]

Inter-nation visits

Heads of State and Government

GuestHostPlace of visitDate of visit
Chairman Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal Premier Kim Il SungPyongyang1956
Premier Kim Il Sung Chairman Yumjaagiin TsedenbalUlaanbaatar16-18 July 1956[18] [19] [20] [21] [22]
Chairman Kim Yong-nam Chairman Jambyn BatmönkhUlaanbaatar1985
Chairman Jambyn Batmönkh Premier Kim Il SungPyongyang1986
Premier Kim Il Sung Chairman Jambyn BatmönkhUlaanbaatar1988
Chairman Kim Yong-nam Chairman Jambyn BatmönkhUlaanbaatar1985
Prime Minister Rinchinnyamyn Amarjargal General Secretary Kim Jong IlPyongyang1999
Prime Minister Nambaryn Enkhbayar General Secretary Kim Jong IlPyongyang2003
President Natsagiin Bagabandi General Secretary Kim Jong IlPyongyang2004
President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj Chairman Kim Yong-namPyongyang2013

Lower ranking officials

GuestHostPlace of visitDate of visitDescription of visit
Deputy Premier Jeong Jun-taek Chairman Yumjaagiin TsedenbalUlaanbaatar14 July 1971Visit during the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the People's Revolution.[23]
Foreign Minister Ho Dam Chairman Yumjaagiin TsedenbalUlaanbaatar1973
Foreign Minister Lodongiyn Rinchin General Secretary Kim Jong IlPyongyang21 December 1974[24]
Foreign Minister Tserenpiliyn Gombosüren General Secretary Kim Jong IlPyongyang1989

Diplomatic missions

North Korean ambassadors to Mongolia

Mongolian ambassadors to North Korea

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Д.Бямбаа: БНАСАУ-ыг хүлээн зөвшөөрч, дипломат харилцаа тогтоосон хоёр дахь орон нь Монгол. 2021-06-21. MONTSAME News Agency. en.
  2. Web site: 수정 2010.03.28 13:00. 입력 2010 03 28 12:39. 2010-03-28. [박보균의 세상 탐사] 몽골 속 북한의 기이함]. 2021-06-21. JoongAng Ilbo. ko.
  3. Balázs Szalontai, Kim Il Sung in the Khrushchev Era: Soviet-DPRK Relations and the Roots of North Korean Despotism, 1953-1964 (Stanford: Stanford University Press; Washington, D.C.: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 2005), pp. 46-47.
  4. Web site: Монгол улс, БНАСАУ-ын харилцааны 70 жил . 2021-06-21. www.baabar.mn Шилдэг нийтлэлчдийн клуб.
  5. On a DPRK-provoked incident in 1976, see Balázs Szalontai, “Expulsion for a Mistranslated Poem: The Diplomatic Aspects of North Korean Cultural Policies.” In: Vu Tuong and Wasana Wongsurawat, eds., Dynamics of the Cold War in Asia: Ideology, Identity, and Culture (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009), pp. 157-159.
  6. News: Mongolia, N. Korea sign friendship treaty . 12 August 2002 . Kyodo . 2007-08-22 . https://web.archive.org/web/20071026011320/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0WDQ/is_2002_August_12/ai_90297096 . 26 October 2007 . dead .
  7. News: North Korean Kim visits Mongolia . 20 July 2007 . 2007-08-22 . The UB Post . Ch. . Sumiyabazar . https://web.archive.org/web/20070812030253/http://ubpost.mongolnews.mn/content/view/446/37/ . 12 August 2007 . dead .
  8. News: Pyongyang Watch. https://web.archive.org/web/20010725055401/http://atimes.com/koreas/CF16Dg01.html. unfit. 25 July 2001. Foster-Carter. Aidan. Asia Times. 16 June 2001. 2007-08-22.
  9. Halbertsma, Tjalling H. F. “Mongolia and the DPRK at Sixty-Five: Ulaanbaatar's Changing Relations with Pyongyang.” North Korean Review, vol. 10, no. 2, 2014, pp. 23–38., doi:10.3172/nkr.10.2.23.
  10. Mongolia's DPRK Policy: Engaging North Korea. Migeddorj. Batchimeg. Asian Survey. March–April 2006. 46. 2. 275–297. 10.1525/as.2006.46.2.275. 2007-08-22. https://web.archive.org/web/20110724190834/http://caliber.ucpress.net/doi/abs/10.1525/as.2006.46.2.275?cookieSet=1&journalCode=as. 2011-07-24. dead.
  11. News: A surprising sphere of influence: Ancient ties may be key to N. Korea. Pocha. Jehangir. 12 December 2004. 2007-08-22. The Boston Globe.
  12. News: A softer approach to North Korea: Mongolia offers itself as a model for change. Pocha. Jehangir. 18 March 2005. 2007-08-22. International Herald Tribune.
  13. News: Radio Free Asia. Center Offers Haven For North Korean Defectors in Mongolia. 6 September 2005. Lee. Wonhee. 22 August 2007. 3 October 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20061003013139/http://www.rfa.org/english/news/politics/2005/09/06/nkorea_mongolia/. dead.
  14. News: Gulf Times, Qatar . Mongolia not planning camps for North Korea . 24 November 2006 . 2007-08-22 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070930201341/http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=119099&version=1&template_id=45&parent_id=25 . 30 September 2007 .
  15. https://thediplomat.com/2013/10/what-do-north-korea-and-mongolia-have-in-common/ What Do North Korea And Mongolia Have In Common? — The Diplomat
  16. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/25/mongolia-north-korea-special-relationship Mongolia’s special relationship with North Korea pays economic dividends | Mongolia | The Guardian
  17. Web site: Kim Jong Un, Mongolian president exchange messages on revolution's anniversary. 2021-06-21. UPI. en.
  18. Web site: Ким Ир Сен Монгол Улсад айлчилсны 60 жилийн ойг тэмдэглэв. 2021-06-21. MONTSAME News Agency. en.
  19. Book: Holstine, Jon D.. Recent Outer Mongolian International Relations: A Time Capsule. January 16, 2015. Lulu Press, Inc. 9781312670143. Google Books.
  20. Web site: October 15, 2018. Mongolian President invites Kim Jong Un to Ulaanbaatar | NK News.
  21. Web site: November 27, 1956. Mission of Friendship: Friendly Visit of the D.P.R.K. Government Delegation to the U.S.S.R. and Other Fraternal People's Democracies. Foreign Languages Publishing House. Google Books.
  22. Book: Kim, Cheehyung Harrison. Heroes and Toilers: Work as Life in Postwar North Korea, 1953–1961. 2018-11-06. Columbia University Press. 978-0-231-54609-6. en.
  23. Web site: Wilson Center Digital Archive.
  24. Web site: Wilson Center Digital Archive. 2021-06-29. digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org.
  25. Web site: The Ambassador of North Korea Presents Letter of Credence to president Elbegdorj President of Mongolia . 2017-11-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171201035955/http://www.president.mn/eng/newsCenter/viewNews.php?newsId=903 . 2017-12-01 . dead .
  26. Web site: DPRK Ambassador to Mongolia Appointed Ministry of Foreign Affairs DPRK . 2018-01-13 . 2019-12-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191224183357/http://www.mfa.gov.kp/en/dprk-ambassador-to-mongolia-appointed/ . dead .
  27. Web site: vip76. Монгол, БНАСАУ-ын хооронд дипломат харилцаа тогтоосны 70 жилийн ойд зориулсан симпозиум, соёлын арга хэмжээ боллоо. 2021-06-21. vip76.mn. mn.
  28. Web site: Credentials to Kim Yong Nam from Mongolian Ambassador . KCNA . 2017-11-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170908191638/http://kcna.co.jp/item/2008/200805/news05/14.htm . 2017-09-08 . dead .
  29. http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/northkorea/2012/05/09/60/0401000000AEN20120509002000325F.HTML North Korea Newsletter No. 209 (May 10, 2012) | Yonhap News
  30. Web site: Kim Yong Nam Receives Credentials from Mongolian Ambassador . https://web.archive.org/web/20191124043823/http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2016/201605/news13/20160513-20ee.html. dead. 2019-11-24. KCNA.