Ulaanbaatar, February 15, 2023 /MONTSAME/. In the framework of his official visit to the Republic of Korea, the Prime Minister of Mongolia received the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Korea Han Dong-hoon.

During his visit, Prime Minister L. Oyun –Erdene is aiming to agree with the Republic of Korea on certain issues related to the cooperation between our two countries. Among all easing the travel conditions of citizens of our two countries is the top priority, he highlighted. Moreover, he introduced the five “W” anti-corruption operations, initiated by the Government of Mongolia following the declaration of 2023 as the “Year to Combat Corruption”.

The Prime Minister noted, “In recent years, the relations between our two countries have been expanding in all sectors, the number of enterprises engaging business with Korea, as well as the number of people heading to Korea with the purpose of studying, traveling, and treatment have been increasing year by year. With the development and expansion of the relations and cooperation between our two countries, the flow of citizens has increased, the number of citizens traveled between the two countries was 5000 in 1999, but now it has reached 200 thousand and currently, over 50 thousand citizens of our country are living in Korea.”

The Prime Minister said that in connection with the fact that the Government of Mongolia has declared 2023-2025 as the "Years to Visit Mongolia," the citizens of the Republic of Korea have been exempted from visas during this period and have been allowed to freely travel to our country. To that extent, the Prime Minister asked the Minister of Justice of Korea to attend to the issue of easing the visa conditions, further to establish conditions to achieve agreement on mutual visa exemption in pursuit of the principle of equality. 

For his side, the Minister of Justice of Korea Han Dong-hoon expressed his commitment to protect the interest of the citizens of Mongolia who reside in Korea and resolve any issues in the framework of the rule of law. While wishing success in Mongolian anti-corruption commitments, he emphasized the readiness of Korea to closely cooperate with Mongolia on this matter, especially, to provide required legal support.

He said that the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Korea is seriously studying the issue of easing the travels of the citizens between Mongolia and Korea, and noted that one of the important indicators for creating conditions for the free movement of citizens is to reduce the number of illegal residents and to respect the laws and regulations of the country. In addition, mentioning the validity of the visa-free entry policy to Jeju and Yangyang for group tourists, he emphasized taking further measures to ease the visa requirements for citizens of Mongolia stage by stage.