On April 7, Secretary-General LIM Byung-jin visited the Ban Ki-moon Foundation and met with former UN Secretary-General BAN Ki-moon and former Ambassador to the UN KIM Sook, who is the current permanent director of the Ban Ki-moon Foundation. Mr. Lim offered his inaugural greetings and expressed his gratitude for the video message sent by Mr. Ban at the 13th NEAR General Assembly held back in 2021. 

Furthermore, Mr. Lim stressed the importance of support from world leaders like Mr. Ban for NEAR to continue in its role as an important multilateral platform for local governments in Northeast Asia amid the current political landscape of such competition and confrontation rather than cooperation. For this reason, he asked Mr. Ban to attend the 14th NEAR General Assembly and the International Forum scheduled to be held this year. 

Mr. Kim expressed his interest in NEAR's organizational structure, members, and projects for the year. Then, he also stated that the Ban Ki-moon Foundation would pay special attention to the activities of NEAR and provide as much support as possible. In addition, Mr. Kim advised that joint business projects, in which members can participate, would be important for the sustainable development of NEAR.