Kim meets Mongolian leader

President Kim Dae-Jung held talks at Cheong Wa Dae Monday with visiting Mongolian President Natsagyn Bagabandi.

Focusing on measures to energize economic development in Northeast Asia, the two leaders agreed on the importance of exploiting the natural gas fields near Irkutsk and linking the trans-Korean Seoul-Shinuiju rail line with the Mongolian railroad.

They pledged cooperative efforts promote the mutually complementary economies of the two countries by combining the abundant natural resources of Mongolia with Korea`s developmental experience and technology.

They further agreed that Korean fiscal, banking and tax specialists would be dispatched to Mongolia within the year to offer policy recommendations and hold consultations on promoting Mongolia`s economic growth, said presidential spokesman Park Joon-Young.

The bilateral summit accord also called for increased cooperation in the culture field, including exchange programs for youths and support for Korean studies in Mongolia. A Korea Week and a Mongolia Week are to be observed in Mongolia and Korea respectively around the March 26 anniversary of diplomatic normalization between Seoul and Ulan Bator.