Rare earths, a trade pact and archery: Lee closes Mongolia visit with a 'golden era' promise

President Lee Jae Myung wrapped up his two-night, three-day state visit to Mongolia on Saturday, capping the trip as the official guest of honor at Naadam, the country's largest traditional festival.

Lee attended the opening ceremony at the National Sports Stadium in Ulaanbaatar alongside Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh. Before the ceremony began, Lee and first lady Kim Hea Kyung were introduced to the crowd. In his opening remarks, Khurelsukh thanked Lee for attending on behalf of the Republic of Korea.

It marks the first time a Korean president has attended Naadam — a national celebration of Mongolia's spirit of freedom and independence — as guest of honor. The ceremony opened with the lighting of the torch, followed by a performance, a flag bearer's march, and a mounted parade. At one point, two riders on horseback circled the stadium carrying the Korean and Mongolian flags, stopping in front of Lee to wave the large banners in greeting; Lee and the first lady responded with applause. Lee also visited the archery venue — one of Naadam's three signature events — and tried his hand at traditional Mongolian archery.

During the state visit, Lee met all three of Mongolia's top officials, pledging a "golden era" in Korea-Mongolia relations. On the 9th, at a summit with President Khurelsukh, Lee said the two countries would "solidify political trust and deepen the strategic partnership on the foundation of our friendship." On Friday, he met separately with National Assembly Speaker Sainbuyan Ganbold and Prime Minister Oyunersene Luvsannamsrai to discuss specific areas of cooperation.

The headline achievement of the visit was reaching an agreement in principle on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). The two countries have been pursuing the pact since November 2023, and key sticking points that had resisted resolution were finally cleared at this summit. Broader in scope than a standard FTA, a CEPA combines tariff elimination and market opening with technology cooperation, human resource exchange, and investment promotion. The agreement is expected to be formally signed and take effect once remaining technical details — including rules of origin procedures — are finalized.

With the CEPA framework in place, the two sides have committed to expanding bilateral trade to $1 billion within five years, elevating trade and investment cooperation to a new level while expanding collaboration in supply chains, advanced technology, the digital economy, and high-value-added manufacturing.

Mineral and supply chain cooperation was another key outcome of the visit. The two countries agreed to build a mutually complementary economic partnership leveraging Mongolia's abundant critical mineral resources and South Korea's advanced technology. Mongolia holds an estimated 31 million tons of rare earth reserves — second only to China's 44 million tons. Using the Joint Research Center for Rare Metals established in Ulaanbaatar as a hub, the two sides agreed to promote technology transfer in exploration, mining, ore processing, and refining, with the longer-term goal of cooperating on high-value-added production.

BY OH HYUN-SEOK [[email protected]]