Charter of the Association of the North East Asia Regional Governments

Preamble

In the spirit of reciprocity and equity, representatives of regional governments in the North East Asian Region, which has unlimited potential to contribute to the international community, have resolved to combine our efforts to accomplish co-development in the region and, at the same time, to contribute to world peace by promoting exchange and cooperation in all fields of administration, economy and culture. Accordingly, to accomplish these noble aims, the representatives have agreed to the present Charter of the Association of North East Asia Regional Governments and do hereby establish an international organization to be known as the Association of North East Asia Regional Governments.

Chapter 1 Name and Purposes of the Association

• Article 1 (Name)This organization shall be named as “the Association of North East Asia Regional Governments” (hereinafter referred to as "The Association".).
• Article 2 (Purposes) In the spirit of reciprocity and equity, “The Association” has the purposes of pursuing joint development of the North East Asian Region and, at the same time, contributing to world peace by building trust on mutual understanding through the establishment of networks for exchanges and cooperation among member governments.
• Article 3 (Agenda) "The Association" shall perform the following clause:
  1. Regularly hold the Conference of North East Asian Regional Governments(The General Assembly)
  2. Collect and distribute information on economic and technological development within the region.
  3. Support and execute projects related to exchange and cooperation.
  4. Review projects pertinent to accomplish the purposes of the Association.

Chapter 2 Scope and Rights & Obligations of Members and Others

• Article 4 (Membership scope)The members of the Association shall be the regional governments of People’s Republic of China, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Japan, Mongolia, Republic of Korea, and Russian Federation, which agreed to the purposes of the Association. The membership is open to other regional governments, and will be effected by a decision of the General Assembly. (revised on September 27, 2016)
• Article 4-2 (Associate Membership scope)The associate members of the Association shall be the regional governments of countries located in Asia excluding the North East region, which have agreed to the purposes of the Association and obtained the approval of membership by the General Assembly. (newly enacted on September 27, 2016)
• Article 5 (Rights and Obligations of Members)Members shall have the rights to participate in various projects and activities performed by the Association, and have the obligations to comply with the provisions stipulated in the Charter.
• Article 5-2 (Rights and Obligations of Associate Members)Associate Members do not have the right to vote and are not eligible to run for election as addressed in Article 7 and Article 9 Clause 1 of Rights and Obligations of Members. (enacted on September 27, 2016)

Chapter 3 Organization and Functions

Section 1 The General Assembly

• Article 6 (Structure and Operation)The General Assembly is the supreme legislative body of the Association, which consists of heads of member organizations, and is held biennially. (revised on September 27, 2016)
• Article 7 (Executives) The General Assembly shall be given due authority to appoint executives to positions specified below.
  1. The General Assembly shall designate one person as the chair who represents the Association. The head of the regional government, which holds the General Assembly, shall ex officio become the chair of the General Assembly. The chair’s term of office ends on the last day of the General Assembly (revised on 28 October, 2010). However, when the chair cannot represent the Association, the deputy representative of the regional government shall act as the chair on behalf of the representative.
  2. Each country shall have an auditor. Auditors shall administer accounting and audit, and be elected at the General Assembly. The auditor's term of office is the same as stipulated in clause 1 of Article 7. (revised on September 27, 2016)
  3. On the decision based on the regulations of membership fee, the right to vote and be elected stated in clause 1 for chair and clause 2 for auditor can be restricted (newly enacted on September 27, 2016)
• Article 8 (Functions)General Assembly shall perform the following clause.
  1. Resolution of member and associate member admission and dismissal (revised on September 27, 2016)
  2. Determination of membership fees
  3. Amendment of the Association Charter
  4. Determination of termination and liquidation of the Association
  5. Determination of the venue for the Secretariat
  6. Appointment of auditors
  7. Approval of budget, project plans, settlement of accounts
  8. Approval of the regulations of the Membership System (newly enacted on September 27, 2016)
  9. Determination of agendas related to the next General Assembly
  10. Determination and execution of business plans of the Association
  11. Other functions deemed to be necessary
• Article 9 (Resolution) Decision-making of the General Assembly shall be made as the following clause:
  1. Each regional government member shall have one vote. However, the right to vote may be restricted in certain situations as determined by the rules of the Membership Fee System. (revised on September 27, 2016)
  2. The particular specified under clauses 1 to 5 of Article 8 shall be resolved by more than half of the members present and a two-thirds majority of the members voting. (revised on September 27, 2016)
  3. The particular specified under clause 6 to 11 of Article 8, shall be resolved by more than half of the members present and more than half of the members voting. (revised on September 27, 2016)
• Article 9-2 (Decision-making Delegated to Working Committee)
  1. In years that the General Assembly is not held, the decision-making items listed in Article 8 Clauses 1, 7, and 8 can be commissioned to the Working Committee.<enacted on September 27, 2016>48 Appendix

Section 2 Working Committee

• Article 10 (Organization and Operation)
  1. The Working Committee consists of director-general level senior administrative staffs nominated by the head of each member regional government. The chair of Working Committee shall convene a meeting more than once every year.
  2. The chair of the Working Committee shall be the vice head of the chair local government.
  3. The chair of the Working Committee reports the result of the meeting to the General Assembly.
  4. For smooth operation of individual projects and other works, a separate subcommittee or subcommittees for each field of work may be organized as a supporting organization for the Working Committee. However, the newly established subcommittees shall be reported to the General Assembly. (newly enacted on September 1998) (revised on October 29, 2018)
• Article 11 (Functions) The Working Committee shall perform the following clause.
  1. Discussion of business plans and individual projects
  2. Documentation of annual reports and audit reports
  3. Coordination of opinions among members
  4. Determination of the establishment of sub-committees(composition, functions and operations / newly enacted on September, 1998)
  5. Determination of issues delegated by the General Assembly to the Working Committee
  6. Other functions deemed to be necessary

Section 3 The Secretariat

• Article 12 (Organization and Operation)The Secretariat is a standing body of “the Association.” Each member government may set up a liaison body if necessary. The term of the Secretariat is 4 years, and may be extended by the decision of the General Assembly.
• Article 13 (Executives and staffs)The Secretariat shall have the following executives and staffs:
  1. The Secretary-General shall be one person. The Secretary-General shall be recommended by the head of the member regional government where the Secretariat is located and be appointed by the Chair of the Association.
  2. The executives and staffs of the Secretariat shall be comprised of government officials dispatched by “the Association” in principle. However, when it is deemed necessary by the Secretary General, it can be constituted in a separate way after receiving approval from the chair of the Association.
• Article 14 (Functions)The Secretariat shall perform the following clause.
  1. Budgeting and budget execution
  2. Documentations of business plans, annual reports, and accounting reports
  3. Liaisons and coordination among members
  4. Execution of decisions made by the General Assembly and the Working Committee
  5. Other functions deemed to be necessary
• Article 15 (Finance)
  1. The accounting of the Secretariat shall be treated as special accounting, and its operations shall be covered by 49 Appendix membership fees and other miscellaneous income.
  2. Accounting shall temporarily be carried out in accordance with the following clauses:
     1. Members shall be obliged to pay membership fees.
     2. All expenses incurred by holding the General Assembly and the Working Committee shall be covered and shared as follows:
        1. Half (B) of the total expenses (A) shall be borne by the regional government hosting the General Assembly.
        2. As to the other half (C=A-B), the rest of the regional governments shall share the amount (C/D), which is equally divided by the number of the regional governments of the Association, excluding the host of the conference (D).
        3. In the event that the number of regional governments actually participating in the General Assembly is less than D, the balance shall be borne by the regional government hosting the conference.
        4. In the event that a member regional government is unable to bear a significant portion of the expense due to unavoidable circumstances such as natural disasters, the expense to be borne may be partially reduced to a reasonable level based on the agreement of other member regional governments.
        5. During the General Assembly, the regional government which proposed to host the next General Assembly shall submit tentative accounting of expenses for organizing the General Assembly and the Working Committee.
     3. The operating expenses of the Secretariat shall be borne by the member government which hosts the Secretariat.
     4. Expenses for other individual cooperation projects shall be covered by the member government which proposed those projects. However, based on agreement, they may be shared among participating members which desire to join the projects.

Section 4 Associated Supporting Organizations

• Article 16 (Establishment)Aimed at contributing to the development of the North East Asian region, each member regional government may establish a supporting organization (hereinafter referred to as ‘Supporting Organization of the Association’) to support the activities of the Association (newly enacted on September 1998).
• Article 17 (Registration)
  1. In the event that a member regional government establishes a Supporting Organization of the Association, it can register the organization by submitting application (newly enacted on September 1998).
  2. The Supporting Organization of the Association shall report its activities to the Association (newly enacted on September 1998).

Chapter 4 Final Provisions

• Article 18 (Effectuation)This Charter shall take effect from the 27th of September 2016. (newly enacted on September 27, 2016)
• Article 19 (The Scope of Members)The founding members of the Association consist of regional governments, which attended the General Assembly in 1996 and agreed to the basic spirit of the Association.50 Appendix
• Article 20 (Language)This Charter shall be written in English and in the languages of the countries where the member regions belong. Original copies of which shall be kept at the archive of the Secretariat and copies of which shall be kept by each member. (revised on October 28)

In faith whereof, the representatives of the regional governments, who were given the due authority from each member government, have signed the present Charter of the Association of North East Asia Regional Governments in Gyeongju City, Gyeongsangbuk-do Province, Republic of Korea on the 12th day of September, 1996.

Supplementary Provision

This Charter shall take effect from the 21st of October 1998.

Supplementary Provision

This Charter shall take effect from the 12th of September 2002.

Supplementary Provision

This Charter shall be effectuated from the 8th of September 2004.

Supplementary Provision

This Charter shall take effect from the 28th of October 2010.

Supplementary Provision

This Charter shall take effect from the 22nd of October 2014.

Supplementary Provision

This Charter shall take effect from the 27th of September 2016.

Supplementary Provision

This Charter shall take effect from the 29th of October 2018.