우재연
| 2026-06-25 07:00:02
(Yonhap Interview) Mongolian ex-PM
(Yonhap Interview) Mongolia can do more than mediate in bringing peace to Korean Peninsula: ex-PM
By Woo Jae-yeon
SEOUL, June 25 (Yonhap) -- Mongolia is well placed to serve as a bridge in broadening regional dialogue to help establish peace on the Korean Peninsula, the country's former prime minister has said.
In a recent interview with Yonhap News Agency, Gombojav Zandanshatar said his country occupies a rare diplomatic position as a country that "maintains friendly relations with both Koreas" and as "a nuclear-weapon-free state with a multi-pillared foreign policy and no hidden agenda."
"Peace on the Korean Peninsula cannot be separated from trust and regional cooperation," he said, adding "our role is not to act as a great-power mediator or impose outcomes. That is not who we are."
What Mongolia can offer instead, he said, is quiet diplomacy by serving as "not merely a participant, but a connector" that works to "preserve communication channels, build confidence, and support practical cooperation when opportunities arise."
That is exactly "the philosophy behind the Ulaanbaatar Dialogue," established in 2014 as a regional platform for security and peace cooperation in Northeast Asia, he said.
"The most valuable role is not to produce a dramatic breakthrough, but to keep conversation alive when the political environment becomes difficult."
Earlier this month, South Korea's Unification Minister Chung Dong-young attended the annual forum in the Mongolian capital, where he proposed a four-way dialogue involving the two Koreas, the United States and China for denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula and eventually expanding it to include other nations, including Mongolia, whose geographic position between Russia and China makes it a natural fit for such an expanded framework.
He also pointed out lasting peace requires more than security arrangements. Energy, critical minerals, supply chains, climate cooperation, technology and people-to-people ties can create shared interests, and that shared interests, he said, are what would help rebuild trust over time.
He singled out people as the most enduring element in building trust.
"Strategic partnerships last longer when ordinary people, businesses, universities and communities carry them, not only government," he said.
One of Mongolia's most seasoned political figures, Zandanshatar has served as the country's 34th prime minister, parliament speaker, foreign minister and chief of staff to the president. He remains active on the international stage, including through the Trans-Altai Sustainability Dialogue, a global forum co-hosted with the Ban Ki-moon Foundation and Stanford University, where he served as a visiting scholar, focusing on sustainable development.
On the country's future, he said, "Ten years from now, I hope Mongolia will be known not only for what lies beneath our soil, but for what we build above it."
Currently visiting South Korea, he was set to attend the Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity, an annual global peace forum aimed at exploring ways to enhance global cooperation in peacebuilding.
He was scheduled to appear in the World Leaders' Session later in the day alongside former U.N. Secretary-General Ban, former Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama to discuss the 21st annual forum's theme, "Reinventing Cooperation in a Fragmented World."
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