On June 25, NEAR Secretary-General Lim Byung-jin attended the opening ceremony of the “2025 NEAR Training Program for Government Officials,” which took place at Yeungnam University.
The ceremony was attended by 16 government officials from NEAR member governments—five from China, eight from Mongolia, one from Russia, one from Kyrgyzstan, and one from Kazakhstan—as well as NEAR liaison officers dispatched from China, Mongolia, and Russia.
Following Secretary-General Lim’s welcome remarks, Yeungnam University President Choi oui-chul delivered a special lecture titled “Sharing Korea’s Development Experience: Focusing on the Saemaul International Development Model,” introducing the university’s international cooperation initiatives based on the Saemaul Undong.
The ten-day program, running from June 25 to July 4, featured lectures on common challenges faced by local governments in Northeast Asia—such as urbanization, regional revitalization, and the digital economy—as well as field trips to sites including the Saemaul Undong's Birthplace Memorial Hall in Cheongdo, POSCO, the National Museum of Korea, and the Gyeongsangbuk-do Provincial Government Office.
This is the second iteration of the program following its successful launch last year. It has firmly established itself as a valuable initiative for NEAR member governments, offering practical assistance through lectures on Korea’s regional development success cases—particularly the Saemaul Undong—as well as on key global issues such as the digital economy and climate change.
Secretary-General Lim stated, “I believe this training program will serve as an excellent opportunity to strengthen the regional development capabilities of officials from NEAR member governments and to foster mutual networking. I hope that, upon returning home, participants will utilize the knowledge and experiences gained here to contribute to the development of their respective countries.”