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World|politics|April 21, 2018 / 02:10 PM
Why Mongolia hopes to host a Trump-Kim Jong Un meeting

AKIPRESS.COM - President of the US Donald Trump says there are five locations being considered for his anticipated summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

There are slightly surreal possibilities: Trump might go to Pyongyang, or Kim could come to the United States — perhaps even skip Washington and head to Florida's Mar-a-Lago or New York's Trump Tower.

In reality, it is unlikely either the American or North Korean side would be willing to allow the other side to play host. Instead, it seems probable that the two countries will try to find neutral ground. This might be somewhere symbolic, like the Korean demilitarized zone's “truce village” of Panmunjom or a boat in international waters.

Alternatively, they could turn to a third country that has good relations with both Washington and Pyongyang. And here, one of the most interesting possibilities can be found: Could Trump and Kim meet in Mongolia's capital, Ulaanbaatar? Washington Post reports. 

Mongolia is certainly not the first country that people think of when they consider major international diplomatic events. A landlocked country with a population of 3 million, it's still probably best known internationally for Genghis Khan, cashmere, and its status as the most sparsely populated country on Earth.

Indeed, at first glance many other third parties, whether they be big powers, like Russia or China, or smaller nations that have previously offered neutral ground for diplomacy, like Sweden or Switzerland, may seem like more obvious choices.

But Mongolian leaders were quick to present themselves as an option for talks when Trump announced them in early March. Former Mongolian president Elbegdorj Tsakhiagiin suggested that his country was the most “suitable, neutral territory.” Enkhbold Zandaakhuu, chief of staff to Mongolian President Khaltmaa Battulga, later met the North Korean ambassador and the U.S. envoy separately to discuss the idea.

Some experts in Mongolia have pushed the idea too, with Julian Dierkes, a sociologist and expert on the country at the University of British Columbia, coming up with a catchy nickname for the proposed event: the “Steppe Summit.” Though Ulaanbaatar officials are keeping quiet at the moment, one Mongolian scholar who has been closely watching Northeast Asian affairs said that the possibility was still open (the scholar spoke on the condition of anonymity because of involvement in talks surrounding a possible summit).

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