한국과 몽골의 경제협력

Korea-Mongolia Economic Cooperation: Achievements and Strategic Challenges

The year 2015 marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Korea and Mongolia. Since the establishment of diplomatic ties, relations between two nations have grown to cover a wide range of areas, including political, economic, social and cultural cooperation drawing upon geographical proximity and common values. However, economic cooperation between Korea and Mongolia still remains weak compare to the levels of political, social and cultural cooperation. Therefore there is a clear need to assess the achievements and challenges of economic relations between them. As Mongolia has become a new emerging market in Eurasia, it is crucial that Korea seeks new measures to boost and improve the quality of economic interaction with Mongolia. The main focus of this paper is to look back on Korea and Mongol’s 25 years of economic cooperation and provide a future strategic framework for greater economic ties. Chapter 2 analyzes the economic cooperation between Korea and Mongolia, focusing on trade and investment. Chapter 3 evaluates Korea-Mongolia economic relations over the past 25 years and addresses the current challenges in Korea-Mongolia economic ties. Chapter 4 discusses economic policies and growth prospects in Mongolia and illustrates promising areas of cooperation between two countries. And lastly, Chapter 5 proposes ways to expand economic cooperation between Korea and Mongolia. A process of Korea-Mongolia economic cooperation has taken place mostly in the form of trade. Therefore it is of paramount importance that Korea expands beyond trade-oriented economic cooperation with Mongolia. Furthermore, Korea needs to take a lead role in achieving ‘Eurasia Initiative’ while expanding investments and encouraging Korean firms to enter into Mongolia. To bring the goal of strengthening Korea-Mongolia economic cooperation to fruition, Korea must develop a systematic and consistent strategy. In addition, apart from holding regular summit meetings, Korea should forge greater networking among high-level officials, launch FTA, sign a reciprocal visa-exemption agreement for free movement of human capital, hold regular Korea-Mongolia business forums.