The appointment ceremony of Irgit Valeriy from Tuva Republic, Russia was held on April 18 at the NEAR Secretariat office. Mr. Valeriy who received the certificate of appointment from Secretary-General Jun Jae-won commented, “Since this is my first time working for international cooperation, I am a little nervous with regards to my new work. However, I will try my best for the development of NEAR working together with other young passionate staff.” Prior to this, Harada Norihisa from Toyama Prefecture, Japan was appointed on April 11. Mr. Harada had worked for the Seoul office of CLAIR (Council of Local Authorities for International Relations)for two years, playing a supporting role in international relations. He stated, “I would like to improve communication with other Secretariat staff by learning their languages, including Korean, Chinese, Mongolian, and Russian.” On April 4, Baigalmaa Tseveendorj from Khentii Province, Mongolia received the certificate of appointment. She has experience in being in charge of foreign language teachers over the years and has worked with many foreign coworkers. As one living in Korea for the first time, Ms. Baigalmaa has expressed a desire to experience as much as possible, thus allowing her to apply her knowledge gained over her one year term in Korea to Mongolia. Secretary-General Jun encouraged the newly appointed foreign staff to enjoy their time, working in unity with current officers while performing the crucial role of acting as bridges between regional governments and NEAR. Four staff of the NEAR Secretariat have been appointed as international staff to four out of six member countries, China, Japan, Mongolia and Russia. They are in charge of opinion coordination and liaison among member regions