In Sühbaatar, Mongolia, there is a district called "Korea Town", where Koreans do not live. From 2004 through 2005, I had taken part in a Habitat for Humanity project to build 11 modern houses in Sühbaatar, Mongolia. As modern houses were put up, local Mongolians started to call the district Korea Town. In addition, a state-of-the-art foreign language lab was built and donated to a university in Mongolia, located in Sühbaatar Aimag. Looking back on the times when I brought Korean technicians to Mongolia, I still feel a sense of reward and pride.
My ties with Mongolia date back to 2001. Namyangju, a city in Gyeonggi Province, S. Korea, has maintained a sister-city affiliation with Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, since 1998. Binggrae Co. a Korean food company- which has one of its operations in Donong-dong, Namyangju- is regarded as one of the best-known household names in Namyangju. Therefore, our operation in Donong-dong was frequently visited by Mongolian government officials and politicians. At that time, I felt a strong need to contribute to the local community by lending a helping hand to the local governing body's to prompte exchanges with foreign nations. To that end, since 2001, I have been serving as honorary consul of Mongolia to S. Korea and have set about projects aimed at encouraging Korea-Mongolia exchanges and reinforcing the ties between the two nations.
In 2003, I supported study tours by 40 Mongolian high-ranking local officials to offer them opportunities to learn about S. Korea's advanced administration. And, I invited senior government officials, such as the mayor of Ulaanbaatar and the Minister of Agriculture, to give them industrial tours in Korea. I felt proud to hear them say that they could feel and learn a great deal from paying a closer look at Korea's advanced administration system and managerial mindset. Although, at the beginning, I set out with a strong sense of responsibility for the betterment of my own local community, I have naturally started to harbor a greater goal of contributing to inter-nation exchanges between S. Korea and Mongolia. Against this backdrop, since 2003, I have played a part in Korea's annual event to celebrate Mongolia's independence.
With hindsight, I reckon that my ties with Mongolia started by chance. Accidental relationships, however, need to be taken to new heights if they are deemed meaningful. Government-level exchanges are bound to be done in a way that puts boosting national interests before everything else. However, private-level exchanges can be carried out in the best possible way when they are based on interpersonal and pure hearted motives. The historical ties between S. Korea and Mongolia run deep. On top of that, the close resemblance between the two nations' people is remarkable. In this regard, Mongolia is truly a geographically distant but in many other ways a close neighbor to Korea.
Under this belief, I have been running scholarships and job search programs for Mongolian students and professors, studying in Korea or in Mongolia, since 2001. So far, nearly 180 people have received scholarships or research funds. I sincerely hope these people grow into the best and brightest talent to spearhead the development of Mongolia. Pure friendships are all-important when it comes to private-level exchanges. A case in point is my relationship with Urjinlhundev Perenlei, former Mongolian ambassador to S. Korea. Deeply moved by his love of Korea and amicable personality, I forged a brotherly relationship with him and enjoyed his full backing in my activities as honorary consul of Mongolia to Korea.
I believe that our friendly relations with Mongolia should be taken to the next level in diverse areas. The area I am keen on is cooperation on environmental issues. As it is well-known, Mongolia, along with the Inner Mongolia in China, is where yellow dust storms originate. The Gobi Dessert is known to be responsible for nearly 23 percent of yellow dust that blankets the Korean peninsula every spring. Yellow dust storms cost us a whopping KRW 7 trillion in economic and environmental damage. They are a serious environmental threat that affects Northeast Asia including Korea.
To address this environmental issue, systemic projects should be carried out to arrest desertification in Mongolia, and government-level collaboration is a must in such efforts. Fortunately, the Korea Forest Service and Mongolia's Ministry of Nature, Environment and Tourism signed a pact to prevent yellow dust storms and the tide of desertification, in January of last year. Under the pact, multi-faceted cooperation including green belt projects is expected to take place. Still, private-level contributions are needed to a great degree. Thus, several private organizations and companies are participating in anti-desertification endeavors, but the challenge is to take more scientific and systemic approaches.
The selection and development of tree species- suitable for the region's soil conditions and climate- and the building of a sustainable system, not haphazard planting of trees, are urgent. As the chairman of Saemaeul Movement in Chungcheongnam-do, I am exploring ways to bring changes under the new slogans of "Green Saemaeul Movement" and "Global Saemaeul Movement". Therefore, I am looking for ways such as Saemaeul to stem desertification in Mongolia in a bid to achieve both "green" and "global" along the way.
From the perspective of national interests, resource-rich Mongolia is of great importance to the Korean government's resource diplomacy. Rich in soft coals and uranium, Mongolia is included in the world's top 10 most resource-rich nations, but lack of capital and technology have left about 70 percent of its land untapped. Therefore, there is a lot of scope for cooperation between Mongolia and resource-hungry S. Korea. However, cooperation in the resource sector cannot be done overnight. Unless we elaborately build mutual trust with one another on a regular basis, diplomacy for national interests would end up losing its luster.
Recently, the Korean government has put forth the slogan, "Enhancement of Korea's International Status and A Bigger Korea". Hard powers such as military strength and economic might should be preceded by soft power- which means S. Korea, as a responsible international member nation, is trusted by the international community and oozes its cultural appeal. This will be a short cut to the enhancement of Korea's international status. "A bigger Korea" will not be achievable solely with political, economic, and military powers. Private-level diversified people-to-people exchanges and cooperative projects in non-political sectors will let us take a giant step toward a bigger Korea. In other words, "a more hospitable Korea" and "a more attractive Korea" will genuinely translate into "a bigger Korea".
I believe that the friendly relations between S. Korea and Mongolia will serve as one of the stepping stones to the enhancement of Korea's international status and a bigger Korea. I hope year 2009 - which marks the 20 anniversary of establishing diplomatic ties between S. Korea and Mongolia - could be remembered as a milestone year for bringing the two nations even closer. Once again, I would like to bear in mind what my most respected hero Kim Koo, also known by his pen name Baekbeom, said; "The national project I want to launch is to make us stand on our own, solely with a culture of love and peace, and to make mankind live peacefully and happily." As honorary consul of Mongolia to S. Korea, I have always intended to have in mind Kim Koo's belief in doing my job to promote S. Korea's cooperation with Mongolia.
