Mongolian Coal Firm Signs Four-Nation Deal Including North Korea

Mongolian miner Sharyn Gol JSC has agreed on a preliminary deal that would see its coal shipped to South Korea via Russia and North Korea, as the land-locked nation seeks new markets to counterbalance its dependence on China.

Arranging the circuitous route was hailed as a major achievement by Batbaatar Bandan, the company’s chief executive officer. “For Mongolia to have four-country cooperation, I think it is historic,” he said at the signing of a memorandum of understanding at a conference in the capital, Ulaanbaatar.