Source: Yonhap News Agency                        Date: 31 March, 2011

Prime Minister S. Batbold condemned North Korea for its deadly attack on a South Korean warship and vowed to make efforts to enhance peace on the divided Korean Peninsula. "The Mongolian government strongly censures the act of North Korea's attack" against the warship, he said in a media interview in Seoul during a three-day trip last week to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between South Korea and Mongolia.

He also expressed hope that regional powers will hold talks and coordinate policies in resolving issues on the peninsula, noting Mongolia will do its best if there is any role to play. He did not elaborate. Mongolia is not a party to the international talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear weapons programs. Pyongyang severed diplomatic relations with Mongolia in 1999, but they reportedly reestablished their ties in 2002.