Mongolian banking sector's net foreign assets down 60.2 pct in June www.xinhuanet.com

The Mongolian banking sector's net foreign assets fell 60.2 percent year-on-year to reach 3.9 trillion Mongolian tugriks (about 1.08 billion U.S. dollars) in June, government data showed Wednesday.
During the period, net domestic assets of Mongolia's banks amounted to 39.1 trillion tugriks (10.90 billion dollars), an increase of 23.6 percent, according to the National Statistics Office (NSO).
Meanwhile, cumulative savings within Mongolian commercial banks demonstrated a robust performance, reaching 22.6 trillion tugriks (about 6.30 billion dollars) by the end of June 2025.
U.S. dollar savings experienced a substantial uptick, surging 16.9 percent, while Mongolian tugrik savings exhibited a more modest increase of 15 percent, the NSO said.
Currently, there are about 1,500 branches of 11 commercial banks operating in Mongolia.

Probe targets alleged link between Mongolia operation, martial law www.koreaherald.com

A special counsel is investigating a covert operation conducted by the military in Mongolia in November, in which two intelligence officers allegedly attempted to contact North Korean officials, as part of its probe into former President Yoon Suk Yeol.
Investigators suspect that the operation was designed to provoke North Korea or to open a line of communication that could serve as justification for Yoon's declaration of martial law on Dec. 3 of last year.
The special council has also underscored the importance of the ongoing probe into military authorities.
"Not investigating cases involving suspicions of treason would be a dereliction of duty,” assistant special counsel Park Ji-young said during a briefing Wednesday afternoon.
According to local daily Hankyoreh on Wednesday, two Korea Defense Intelligence Command officers — a lieutenant colonel and a major — were deployed to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, where they attempted to approach the North Korean Embassy through Mongolian officials. They had been tasked with gathering intelligence on North Korea, and their mission report reportedly listed the North Korean Embassy as a target.
The officers were detained by Mongolian intelligence authorities during the operation and were released after then-KDIC commander Major Gen. Moon Sang-ho traveled to Mongolia to request their release.
The KDIC has links to other aspects of the martial law attempt. Moon was suspended in December for dispatching KDIC personnel to the National Election Commission on the night of Dec. 3 to photograph the commission’s server room.
However, no concrete evidence has been found to prove the KDIC’s direct involvement in the overall planning of the martial law imposition, aside from its connection to former KDIC chief Noh Sang-won, who was arrested in December on charges related to orchestrating Yoon's martial law plan.
Noh reportedly received a list of 46 intelligence officers from Gen. Moon in October 2024. A notebook seized from Noh contained phrases such as “induce the North’s attack at NLL (referring to the Northern Limit Line)” and “waste balloons,” which investigators believe suggest the KDIC’s involvement in fabricating a security crisis ahead of the Dec. 3 declaration.
If such intent from the KDIC is discovered through the special counsel investigation, officials responsible for the actions could be subject to charges of treason. Under Article 92 of the Criminal Act, treason refers to acts of colluding with foreign powers to initiate war or armed rebellion against the country.
As of press time, the Ministry of National Defense has not commented on the investigation. When reports about the Mongolia operation first surfaced in late 2024, the ministry denied any connection between the trip and preparations for martial law.
The investigation into the Mongolia operation is unfolding alongside suspicions of another attempt to provoke the North — a military drone mission carried out in early October 2024. The drone reportedly carried propaganda leaflets and was deliberately crashed to elicit a response from North Korea.
The special counsel said that it obtained testimony that indicates that former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun ordered the Drone Operations Command to fly an unmanned aircraft toward North Korea in October 2024.
According to transcripts, Joint Chiefs of Staff Operations Director Lt. Gen. Lee Seung-oh testified that Kim personally directed the missions, rerouting drones to areas such as Nampo, the North's South Pyongan Province, and regions north of the East Sea’s Northern Limit Line.
The special counsel later sought an arrest warrant for Drone Operations Commander Lt. Gen. Kim Yong-dae on suspicion of forging military documents to conceal the mission.
However, the court rejected the request on Monday, citing insufficient grounds for detention. The investigation team is reviewing the court’s decision and considering whether to refile the request.
BY Hwang Joo-young
flylikekite@heraldcorp.com

Dushanbe to host Tajikistan-Mongolia Investment Forum www.qazinform.com

Social insurance revenue rises in Mongolia in H1 www.qazinform.com

The Social Insurance Fund (SIF) of Mongolia generated MNT 3,220.5 billion in revenue during the first half of 2025, an increase of MNT 390.7 billion compared to the same period in 2024, MONTSAME reports. 
According to the National Statistics Office of Mongolia, this growth was mainly driven by a MNT 295.1 billion increase in pension insurance revenue and a MNT 42.5 billion increase in benefit insurance revenue.
Meanwhile, the SIF’s total expenditure reached MNT 2,903.2 billion, which is MNT 468.3 billion higher than in the same period of 2024.
Pension insurance payments amounted to MNT 2,666.6 billion, covering 518,800 individuals. Of these recipients, 79.3 percent were senior citizens, 12.4 percent were persons with disabilities, 4 percent were survivors of deceased breadwinners, and 4.3 percent were military pensioners.
As for social welfare services, a total of MNT 1,241.4 billion was disbursed to 2.3 million individuals. While the number of welfare recipients decreased by 125,200 compared to the same period in 2024, the amount of financial assistance provided increased by MNT 83.2 billion.
As reported previously, Mongolia is to cooperate with The Asia Group to improve the investment climate. 
BY  Adlet Seilkhanov

Mongolia's criminal cases up 30.2 pct in H1 www.xinhuanet.com

The number of criminal cases in Mongolia has increased by nearly 31 percent in the first half of 2025, the country's National Statistical Office (NSO) said Wednesday.
A total of 26,706 criminal cases were recorded in the January-June period, up 30.2 percent against the same period last year, the NSO said.
In the first half of the year, a total of 24,600 people fell victim to various crimes, nearly 52 percent of whom were children and women, it added.
Meanwhile, the crime rate per 10,000 people aged 16 or older came to 118, up 28.2 percent year-on-year.

Prime Minister Orders Review of Tripartite Agreement on Labor and Social Partnership by July 30 www.montsame.mn

Prime Minister of Mongolia Zandanshatar Gombojav received the President of the Confederation of Mongolian Trade Unions (CMTU), Tamir Enkhbaatar, and other representatives.
Prime Minister Zandanshatar Gombojav underscored, "Social justice must move from slogan to practice through full implementation of the Tripartite Agreement on Labor and Social Partnership mechanism to support workers and protect their interests. The reason for re-emphasizing the Tripartite Agreement is the past case of misappropriation of the money accumulated from employer and employee social insurance contributions. Cases of such irresponsible misconduct are many; thus, the current arrangement of the partnership must be updated and enforced with stronger oversight."
The Prime Minister stressed the need for establishing a council against corruption with citizen and trade union participation to monitor implementation of the agreement. Mentioning it is time to eliminate bribery, favoritism, politicization, and outdated practices from civil service, Prime Minister Zandanshatar Gombojav proposed implementing a civil service attestation in cooperation with the CMTU and the Civil Service Council, incorporating performance‑based evaluations, incentives, and pay for honest and diligent employees. The Prime Minister instructed relevant officials to assess and evaluate implementation of the National Tripartite Agreement on Labor and Social Partnership for 2023–2025 and submit the results before July 30, 2025.
The President of the CMTU, Tamir Enkhbaatar, requested the Government to revise Resolution No. 370 "On Actions to Develop Social Partnership" issued by the Government in 2013 and to issue binding directions for Ministries, Agencies, and Governors at all levels to implement it. Furthermore, E. Tamir called for a more effective system for union participation, receipt and consideration of worker proposals, and dispute resolution.
The President of the CMTU also emphasized the need to evaluate enforcement of the Labor Law, review related legislation, and strengthen certain regulations. Tamir Enkhbaatar stressed the importance of addressing and eliminating workplace sexual harassment and violence, considering Mongolia’s accession to the International Labour Organization Convention No. 190 on violence and harassment, and playing a leading role in revising the Social Insurance Law.

270.8 Thousand Legal Entities Registered in Business Registry www.montsame.mn

As of the first half of 2025, a total of 270.8 thousand legal entities have been registered in the Business Registry at the National Statistics Office of Mongolia. This figure is 25.2 thousand higher compared to the same period in 2024.
Of the total, 77.5 percent are companies, 12.5 percent are non-governmental organizations (NGOs), 5.2 percent are cooperatives, 2 percent are partnerships, 1.9 percent are budgetary institutions, and 0.9 percent operate as state-owned or locally-owned enterprises.
Geographically, 196.1 thousand entities are registered in Ulaanbaatar City, followed by 25.4 thousand in the Central Region, 22.7 thousand in the Khangai Region, 17.7 thousand in the Western Region, and 9 thousand in the Eastern Region. The number of entities registered in Gobi-Sumber, Sukhbaatar, and Dundgobi aimags ranges between 0.8 and 2.1 thousand.
Of the total 270.8 thousand registered entities, 41.3 percent are currently operating.
Among the non-operational entities, 89.2 thousand have temporarily suspended their activities, while the remaining 69.9 thousand are inactive for other reasons.
Among the entities that are actively operating, 86.6 percent have 1–9 employees, 6.2 percent have 10–19, and 4.6 percent have 20–49 employees. Only 2.6 percent of active entities have more than 50 employees.
A total of 87.8 thousand active entities operate in the trade and services sector.

“Chinggis Khaan” International Airport Served 2 Million Passengers in 2024 www.montsame.mn

Minister of Road and Transport of Mongolia Delgersaikhan Borkhuu, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Mongolia His Excellency Igawahara Masaru, and officials inspected the infrastructure, layout, and operations of the “Chinggis Khaan” International Airport.
Passenger traffic in Mongolia’s air transport sector has been rapidly increasing. The Government of Mongolia, the Ministry of Road and Transport, and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Mongolia are planning to expand and upgrade the airport’s capacity in the near term, in line with which the site visit was conducted.
Constructed with a Japanese concessional loan, “Chinggis Khaan” International Airport was commissioned in July 2021 and has since seen continuous growth in passenger flow, handling 1.7 million passengers in 2023 and two million passengers in 2024.

ICE releases deaf Mongolian immigrant after holding him for months without interpreter www.calmatters.org

A deaf Mongolian man who uses sign language to communicate has been released from immigration custody in Southern California after spending months in detention without access to an interpreter, a family member confirmed today. 
CalMatters reported earlier this month on the man’s detention. His family requested he only be identified by the name Avirmed because of their fear that he could be harmed by the Mongolian government if he is eventually returned to his home country. 
U.S. Southern District of California Judge Dana Sabraw on July 9 ordered officials at the Otay Mesa Detention Center to provide Avirmed with a Mongolian Sign Language interpreter. So far, Immigration and Customs Enforcement had not provided him access to anyone who spoke his language, which his attorney equated to holding him in solitary confinement. 
Immigration agents tried using Google Translate to ask Avirmed if he feared returning to Mongolia, according to court records. They badly misunderstood him, identifying his sponsor as a daughter named Virginia Washington when he does not have a daughter, according to a legal complaint filed on his behalf. His sponsor is his sister, who lives in Virginia. 
She confirmed, “He is home with me.” 
Avirmed’s attorneys with the Disability Rights Legal Center and Disability Law United argued that holding immigration court proceedings without allowing him access to an interpreter violated Avirmed’s legal civil rights. They drew on federal disability laws prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities by any federal program, including the immigration court system. 
Sabraw agreed. “He has a right, doesn’t he? To be able to fully participate in any significant proceeding?” the federal judge asked the attorney for the federal government. 
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California would not comment on the man’s release. 
Sabraw also ordered the federal government to redo two assessments that could have affected the 48-year-old man’s request for asylum. The government did the assessments in a language Avirmed did not understand, the judge ruled. One examined his mental health, and the other evaluated whether he has a credible fear for his safety if he returns to his country.  
Avirmed was held in the Otay Mesa Detention Center since he entered the U.S.in February seeking asylum from persecution because of his disability. A 2020 assault in Mongolia left him with a traumatic brain injury that causes seizures and memory loss. He was attacked because of his disability, according to court records. His family declined to say how he reached the U.S.
It remains unclear why Avirmed was released after being detained since February. He did not have any additional bond hearings, according to an immigration court docket. His attorneys could not immediately be reached for comment. ICE did not return a request for comment.

Wildfires rage across northern Mongolia as heat intensifies www.xinhuanet.com

Nearly 15 forest and steppe fires remained active in northern Mongolia's Selenge province, with more than 425 firefighters deployed to contain the blazes, the country's National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said on Tuesday.
The fires followed record-breaking temperatures in the region earlier this week.
Since the beginning of the year, Mongolia has recorded a total of 194 forest and steppe fires. The NEMA attributed the majority of these incidents to human negligence, such as improper fire handling, while others were triggered by dry, windy spring conditions and this summer's extreme heat and drought.
Authorities have issued warnings to residents, urging them to refrain from lighting bonfires or discarding cigarette butts outdoors during dry and hot weather conditions.
Environmental experts noted that Mongolia is among the countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Due to its geographical location, natural disasters associated with global climate change are increasing year by year, including forest and steppe fires, as well as desertification, land degradation and yellow dust storms.
According to the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, only 7.9 percent of Mongolia is forested, while approximately 77 percent of the country's total land area is now affected by desertification and degradation.