Prime Minister U.Khurelsukh is paying an official visit to the Republic of Korea from January 15 to 17 at the invitation of South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon to deepen ties between the two nations. The two countries are focusing on successfully organizing this visit as Mongolia is doing a ministerial-level visit to South Korea for the first time in seven years since former Prime Minister S.Batbold’s visit to South Korea in 2011. Premier U.Khurelsukh met with President of South Korea Moon Jae-in on January 15 to discuss the relations and cooperation between the two countries. During their meeting, the sides exchanged views on cooperation in the areas of politics, economy and society. President Moon Jae-in pointed out that South Korea aspires to elevate the comprehensive partnership between the two countries to a strategic partnership level, expand mutual politics, economy, trade and investment cooperation, and increase a people-to-people exchange between the two nations. He noted that as the two countries share the same values such as democracy and free market, the two countries pursue the same position on prosperity in Northeast Asia. The prime minister underlined that he is pleased to make his first overseas trip since taking office to South Korea which is considered Mongolia’s “third” neighbor and noted that South Korea is at a key position in the country’s foreign policy. He highlighted this visit will be of significant impact to enriching the relations and cooperation between the two countries. Prime Minister U.Khurelsukh stated that a soft loan of 500 million USD granted by South Korea to Mongolia under the International Monetary Fund’s extended fund facility program being carried out in Mongolia is expected to be spent for reducing air and environment pollution in Ulaanbaatar. They also discussed mutual cooperation to implement joint megaprojects through the Asia Super Grid initiative. President Moon Jae-in introduced Premier U.Khurelsukh to his New Southern Policy that aims to strengthen cooperative relations with the member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and underlined that there are a lot of opportunities for South Korea to deepen its cooperation with Mongolia. At the end of their meeting, the prime minister invited South Korean delegates to participate in the fifth Ulaanbaatar Dialogue on Security in Northeast Asia, which will be held in June in Ulaanbaatar. As a part of his visit, the prime minister was received by South Korea’s Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Young-joo on January 16. The South Korean minister noted that as the number of Mongolian illegal immigrants in South Korea decreased in 2017, the ministry plans to increase Mongolian worker quota this year. The minister added that there is an opportunity to implement a project to create an information system in Mongolia under a non-refundable aid provided by the government of South Korea, which supports employers and employees to contact each other. The labor minister emphasized that South Korea applies this system in Cambodia and Vietnam, and noted that as nearly everybody has access to the internet, the system gives both employers wanting to hire good workers and people looking for jobs more opportunities without spending a lot of time looking for jobs.