Governor Lee Cheol-woo of Gyeongsangbuk-do Province held a meeting with key participants from foreign local councils and members of the diplomatic corps in Korea who attended the 2025 NEAR Local Council Cooperation International Forum, and exchanged views on cooperation among local governments and councils in Northeast and Central Asia.
The meeting was attended by six chairpersons, two vice chairpersons, five delegations from local councils, and three members of the diplomatic corps in Korea, representing NEAR member governments from the Republic of Korea, Russia, Mongolia, and other countries.
※ List of participants omitted
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Chairs
(6) |
Park Sung-man, Chair of the Gyeongsangbuk-do Provincial Council
Lee Sung-ryong, Chair of the Ulsan Metropolitan City Council
Choi Hak-beom, Chair of the Gyeongsangnam-do Provincial Council
Alexander Vedernikov, Chair of the Legislative Assembly of Irkutsk Region
Jargaljib Ganbold, Chair of the Bulgan Aimag Assembly
Erdenurnukh Oyung, Chair of the Umnugovi Aimag Assembly |
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Vice Chairs
(2) |
Choi Byeong-jun, Vice Chair of the Gyeongsangbuk-do Provincial Council
Tatiana Mantatova, Vice Chair of the People’s Khural of the Republic of Buryatia |
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Legislative Delegations
(5) |
Ha Jung-hwan, Chair of the Steering Committee, Daegu Metropolitan City Council
Zhang Qin, Director of the General Office of the Standing Committee of the People’s Congress of Gansu Province
Shi Peiwei, Chair of the Qualifications Review Committee of the Standing Committee of the People’s Congress of Shandong Province
Luo Guoyu, Deputy Secretary-General of the Standing Committee of the People’s Congress of Hunan Province
Hao Mingsheng, Deputy Director of the General Office of the CPPCC Committee of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region |
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Diplomatic Corps in Korea (3) |
Georgy Zinoviev, Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Korea
Chen Ribiao (陈日彪), Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in Busan
Aslan Askar, Consul General of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Busan |
During the meeting, Governor Lee stated that “NEAR has played an important role as a platform driving cooperation among local governments in Northeast Asia over the past 29 years,” and expressed hopes that the forum would serve as an opportunity to strengthen mutual understanding and communication not only among local governments but also among local assemblies, thereby expanding practical cooperation. He added that Gyeongsangbuk-do Province will continue to actively support NEAR so that it can establish itself as a central pillar of future Northeast Asian cooperation, and that the province will work to build a sustainable cooperation model jointly involving both local governments and local councils.
(From left: Lee Sung-ryong, Chairperson of the Ulsan Metropolitan City Council / Alexander Vedernikov, Chairperson of the Legislative Assembly of Irkutsk Region)
Delegations from participating countries expressed their appreciation to the NEAR Secretariat and Gyeongsangbuk-do Province for hosting the forum on interregional legislative cooperation in Gyeongju, a beautiful city rich in history and culture and the host city of APEC, and voiced hopes that the forum would serve as an important starting point for expanding exchange and cooperation among local councils in Northeast Asia.
(From left: Erdenurnukh, Chairperson of the Umnugovi Aimag Assembly / Luo Guoyu, Deputy Secretary-General of the Standing Committee of the People’s Congress of Hunan Province)
They noted that expanded communication and cooperation at the local council level would contribute to regional stability and shared prosperity, and expressed hopes that the forum would become a new driving force for multilateral cooperation in Northeast Asia.
Ambassador Georgy Zinoviev, speaking on behalf of the diplomatic corps, stated that NEAR has established itself as a trusted platform for regional cooperation, and emphasizing that increased exchanges among local councils would help stabilized interstate relations and deepen regional cooperation. He expressed hopes that Russian local governments and councils would continue actively participating in NEAR activities to strengthen mutual understanding and practical cooperation.
The meeting was convened to foster shared understanding of the need for cooperation between Gyeongsangbuk-do Province, which fully supports the operating budget of the NEAR Secretariat, and the high-level local council delegations of member governments attending the forum, as well as to promote mutual exchange. It also as an opportunity to further solidify the foundation for cooperation among local assemblies in Northeast Asia.
Participants agreed to continue expanding practical exchange projects centered on the NEAR platform, with Gyeongsangbuk-do Province and the NEAR Secretariat providing ongoing support to develope sustainable cooperation models jointly involving local governments and local councils.