Welcome to the Association of North East Asia Regional Governments (“NEAR”) website

NEAR was established in 1996 in Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea, as an international organization of Northeast Asian local governments. It serves as an important platform for multilateral exchange and cooperation among local governments in Northeast Asia, with 82 regional governments of six member countries, including China, Japan, Korea(South), Korea (North), Mongolia, and Russia, and two associate members, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and Chuy Region, Kyrgyzstan.

Our Association aims to promote joint development and prosperity of member regional governments through exchange and cooperation based on the spirit of reciprocity and equality in diverse fields such as economy, environment, disaster prevention, education and culture, marine and fisheries, tourism, agriculture, energy and climate change, minerals, logistics, and youth policy, etc., In doing so, we hoe to contribute to regional stability in Northeast Asia and world peace.

Recently, the world, including Northeast Asia, has been facing a time of significant change in the political landscape. In particular, Northeast Asia is a region of conflicting international political interests, showing signs of intensifying competition and confrontation along with increasing cooperation.

Notwithstanding the changes, our Association will continue to build a Northeast Asian community of mutual trust and joint development, prosperity, and peace, through the expansion of exchange and cooperation between local governments of the six Northeast Asian countries, in accordance with the purposes and objectives of the establishment of the Association.

In pursuit of such goals, we would like to see the NEAR website serve as an important platform for information sharing between member regional governments and a means of forming a consensus on specific issues.

Please let us know if you have any recommendations or opinions for the NEAR Secretariat. The Secretariat will strive to faithfully reflect them accordingly. We appreciate your continued interest and support in the activities of the NEAR Secretariat.

LIM Byung-jin
Secretary-General of the Association of Northeast Asia Regional Governments