On February 20, Secretary-General Lim Byung-jin attended the Japan National Day Reception hosted by the Consulate-General of Japan in Busan (Consul-General Tsuyoshi Ohtsuka) at Paradise Hotel in Busan, Republic of Korea, to extend his congratulations.
Lim shared with Tsuyoshi Ohtsuka and Kenji Nagafuchi (former Director at TCS) NEAR's recent activities and the major events planned for this year. He also requested their continued interest and support. Additionally, he met with representatives from the Niigata, Nagasaki, Tottori, and Okinawa Seoul offices who attended the event, encouraging them to actively participate in NEAR’s activities and to consider joining NEAR membership.
Mr. Lim also met with Aslan Askar, Consul-General of Kazakhstan in Busan, Bae Byung-su, Ambassador for International Relations of Gyeongsangnam-do Province, Jeong Hae-kwan, Ambassador for International Relations of Daegu, Seo Jeong-in, former ASEAN Ambassador and current Director of the UN Memorial Cemetery in Korea, Heo Nam-sik, former Busan Mayor and current President of Shilla University, and Shin Il-hee, President of Keimyung University. During the meeting, he introduced NEAR's major events for this year, including the NEAR Member Workshop to be held in Jeju in March and the NEAR General Assembly in Liaoning in June, requesting their active participation and support.
The reception was successfully held, with speeches by Consul-General Tsuyoshi Ohtsuka, former Busan Mayor and current President of Shilla University Heo Nam-sik, and a toast by Shin Jae-hyun, the Ambassador for International Relations of Busan. The event was attended by around 300 participants, including political, diplomatic, industrial, and educational figures from Busan, Gyeongnam, Daegu, and the diplomatic corps stationed in Busan. Additionally, Japanese local governments set up promotional booths at the venue to showcase local specialties such as Japanese traditional alcohol.