The Special Strategic Partnership between Mongolia and Japan thus includes cooperation on food security, regenerative agricultural practices, forestry and fisheries. While bilateral cooperation between Mongolia and Japan is crucial for people-to-people relations and developmental projects, in East Asian security context, the Japan-Mongolia relationship certainly carries geopolitical connotations. Since 2011, Mongolia’s third neighbor policy has enlarged Ulaanbaatar’s foreign policy sphere. These mechanisms support trilateral partnerships between Mongolia, Japan, and the U.S. and help promote peaceful resolutions to protracted challenges concerning denuclearization of North Korea, and abduction issues. For Mongolian foreign policy, in addition to having strong ties with Russia and China, robust third neighbor bilateral and trilateral mechanisms are crucial.