Japan-Mongolia Relations

On September 5, commencing at around 11:25 a.m. (local time) for approximately 35 minutes, Mr. Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan, on his visit to Vladivostok, Russian Federation to attend the Eastern Economic Forum, held a Summit meeting with H.E. Mr. Khaltmaa Battulga, President of Mongolia. The overview of the meeting is as follows.

1. At the beginning, President Battulga conveyed his congratulations to Prime Minister Abe for the successful holding of the G20 Summit. The two leaders welcomed that their Summit meeting was being held on the margins of the Eastern Economic Forum for the third consecutive year. Prime Minister Abe stated his intention to further deepen the “Strategic Partnership” between their two countries which share universal values, including freedom, democracy, the rule of law, and human rights. In addition, Prime Minister Abe expressed his intention to make joint efforts for realizing peace and stability in the region and international community, including North Korean issues.
2. Touching upon the successful holding of the opening ceremony of the New Ulaanbaatar International Airport’s operations in July 2019, Prime Minister Abe expressed pleasure at Japanese companies’ cooperation in the strategic area of airport operations. President Battulga mentioned Mongolia’s new policy on tourism promotion, and both leaders shared the view that they will collaborate for the smooth opening of the airport.
3. Prime Minister Abe referred to advances made in bilateral security and defense cooperation, such as implementation of Defense Capacity Building Assistance for Mongolia, including in the field of peacekeeping operations, and Japan’s participation in “Khaan Quest,” a multinational exercise co-hosted by U.S. Pacific Command and the Mongolian Armed Forces. The two leaders confirmed the strengthening of strategic cooperation towards the realization of a free and open Indo-Pacific.
4. Regarding the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, Prime Minister Abe noted that 19 municipalities in Japan registered as host towns of Mongolia, and expressed his expectations for the successful performance of Mongolian athletes in various sports and for the expansion of grassroots people-to-people interactions in various fields. The two leaders then exchanged views regarding people to people exchanges through sports.
5. Prime Minister Abe reaffirmed with Mongolia that it would cooperate on efforts for the full implementation of United Nations Security Council resolutions and the early resolution of the abductions issue. The two leaders shared the view that they will continue to coordinate closely on the situation in North Korea.