On August 21, Secretary-General Lim Byung-jin visited the Shimane Prefectural Office to meet with Tatsuya Maruyama, governor of Shimane Prefecture, during his trip to the region to attend the NEAR Subcommittee on Educational and Cultural Exchange.

Expressing his gratitude to Shimane Prefecture for coordinating the subcommittee for more than 20 years, Mr. Lim explained that NEAR has recently been expanding its outreach, with an increasing number of its member-regions participating in various NEAR events. After introducing this year’s major events, Mr. Lim requested Shimane’s continued interest and support for NEAR in the years to come.

In particular, Mr. Lim spoke about the NEAR High-Level Working Committee, which will be held by Liaoning Province in Shenyang from September 24 to 26, and the NEAR Subcommittee on Innovation+, to be hosted by Hunan Province from October 22 to 24. He asked for the participation of high-level officials from Shimane in these events. Additionally, he invited Mr. Maruyama to the NEAR General Assembly, scheduled to take place in Shenyang next year. 

Mr. Maruyama welcomed Mr. Lim who visited Shimane to attend the NEAR Subcommittee on Educational and Cultural Exchange, and conveyed his willingness to advance exchanges with other NEAR member-regions including Korean local governments. He also expressed his intention to participate in the NEAR High-Level Working Committee which is to be held in Shenyang, and to consider attending next year’s NEAR General Assembly once the event schedule gets fixed. 

Mr. Lim made his first visit to Shimane Prefecture last year as NEAR Secretary-General, shortly after his inauguration, where he met with Governor Maruyama to discuss ways to strengthen mutual exchange and cooperation. This meeting marks their second encounter since then.