KT signs mineral resource supply deal with Mongolia

South Korea’s telecom giant KT Corp. said on Thursday it has signed a mineral resources supply deal with the Mongolian government, under which it will likely import rare earth and other resources such as copper, gold, iron and steel from the central Asian country.

The preliminary deal is expected to facilitate the supply of mineral resources in South Korea. Details of the agreement will be finalized after discussions with both countries’ governments and industrial leaders.

Mongolia produces some 80 kinds of minerals and its rare earth deposits account for 16% of global reserves.

The memorandum of understanding is part of their broader cooperation plan for sectors from finance to health care, digital transformation and media, based on KT’s technologies and infrastructure. It is also aimed at speeding up Mongolia’s digital transformation.

BC Card Co., a KT subsidiary, will launch a network-to-network (N2N) service in collaboration with Mongolia’s central bank. N2N is KT’s global project to connect payment networks with other countries.

The KT arm will establish integrated payment systems for both countries so that Mongolia’s T-Card holders can pay through BC Card’s QR code, while withdrawing or depositing cash at South Korean banks’ ATMs.

T-Card accounts for about 70% of credit cards registered in Mongolia. BC Card is South Korea’s largest payment processing company.

For the entertainment business, KT Studio Genie, a content production company, may create dramas or other content related to Mongolia.

KT Studio Genie had invested in the Korean hit drama "Extraordinary Attorney Woo," produced by Netflix Inc.

To strengthen their partnership, Mongolia appointed KT Chief Executive Ku Hyeon-mo as its chief technology officer. He became the first foreign businessman named for such a high-level government position for the country.

Write to Sang-Eun Lucia Lee at selee@hankyung.com
Yeonhee Kim edited this article