Two top Korean public servants will work in Mongolia for a year as financial advisors to the country, a move intended to help create stronger ties between the nations.  One of them, Koh Young-kwon, director of the Korean Ministry of Strategy and Finance, is already in Ulaanbaatar to serve as adviser to Finance Minister S. Bayartsogt. Lee Byung-rae, director at the Financial Services Commission in Seoul, is due to arrive once final approval is received from the Mongolian Government, to act as advisor to Central Bank Governor L. Purevdorj.

The two officials are being sent to Mongolia as World Bank consultants under a USD500,000-program to help the country modify and strengthen its financial systems.

Mongolia has a fledgling financial industry that includes 16 banks. However, due to the global economic crisis, many of its financial companies are hanging by a thread, similar to the situation South Korea faced during the Asian financial crisis in 1997 and 1998. “If the opportunity presents itself, I will contribute to Mongolia’s economic recovery by using advice learned from our past experience,” Lee said.

Early last year, Mongolia asked South Korea for a USD100-million loan to help it ride through the economic turbulence. South Korea, though, was suffering from the global downturn as well and felt it wasn’t in a position to help other ailing countries. “By sending Korean officials to Mongolia, it feels as though we are giving some help that we couldn’t provide before,” an official in Seoul told the daily JoongAng.