SEOUL, July 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's defense minister plans to step up regional consensus on ways to deal with North Korea when he visits Russia and Mongolia next week, his office said Friday. Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee is set to visit Russia from July 19-21 and Mongolia from July 22-24, according to the Ministry of National Defense.
North Korea will be high on the agenda when he meets with his Russian and Mongolian counterparts Anatoly Serdyukov and Luvsanvandan Bold, the ministry said. "The Russian visit is expected to lead to a framework for strategic cooperation in steadfastly dealing with the North Korean problem," the ministry said in a statement.
"The trip to Russia is aimed at reinforcing existing defense dialogue channels between these countries in tackling the North Korean problem," Brig. Gen. Jeong Yeon-bong said in a briefing.
Lee will discuss the North Korean nuclear test and ways to boost security ties between South Korea and Mongolia when he visits Ulan Bator, the ministry said.
| Mongolia is permitted to have security issues? Since when? |
| They've allied w/ the US to offset China. There's been at least one Mongolian cadet who went through West Point and from all I've heard he was pretty impressive. |
The Mongolian visit is expected to help boost economic ties in resource development as well, the ministry said. |