Mongolian Ambassador to Korea Baasanjav Ganbold spoke at a Mongolian student group’s biggest annual meeting highlighting the rising presence of the Mongolian expatriate community in Korea at the National Institute for International Education in Seoul on May 4.

The Mongolian Student Association in Korea (CMOX) organized the annual student meeting that hosted Ganbold and Mongolian poet, actor and musician Divaajin Sosorbaram.

During his speech, Ganbold advised the audience of about 200 young people to make the most of their time in Korea.

“You should use the opportunity that you have been given to study here in Korea to learn as much as you can. It is, of course, important to learn Korean while studying here, but take this opportunity to study English as well. That will be vital to your future,” Ganbold said.

Hundreds of Mongolian students studying at universities all over the country converged in Seoul to attend the meeting.

Mongolia and Korea have close diplomatic relations by virtue of the large Mongolian expatriate community here. Some 33,000 Mongolians ― equal to 1 percent of the entire population of the Central Asian nation ― reside in Korea including industrial laborers and students. About 3,000 of them are students, according to CMOX.

Nearly half of all households in Mongolia have a family member residing in Korea, according to one estimate.

Sosorbaram is a household name in Mongolia; cell phone cameras immediately began clicking when he began his speech. Clad in a traditional Mongolian deel, Sosorbaram said it is most important to discover who we truly are and be proud of what we find.

“You are fortunate to be here and to have such a big responsibility to contribute to Mongolia’s development, too,” Ganbold said.

By Philip Iglauer (ephilip2011@heraldcorp.com)