April 10, 2008 The 4th -Korea Governors’ Conference

On Thursday, April 10, 2008, the President of the National Governors’ Association of Japan Mr. Wataru Aso ( of ), the Governor of Mr. Sukeshiro Terada, the Governor of Mr. Yoshinobu Ishikawa, the Governor of Mr. Keiji Yamada and the Governor of Mr. visited Korea in order to participate in the 4th Japan-Korea Governors’ Conference held in Seoul, the Republic of Korea. During the Japan-Korea Governors’ Conference, the Governors from both countries expressed their opinions and had lively discussions on two subject matters: the “current situation and future outlook for the decentralization of Japan and Korea,” and the “current situation regarding the interaction between Japanese and Korean municipalities, including the role and direction of future development of this interaction.” A joint statement was adopted at the end of the Conference. The 5th Japan-Korea Governors’ Conference in 2010 will be held in Japan, as expressed in the joint statement. On the morning of April 10, 2008, prior to the 4th Japan-Korea Governors’ Conference, five Governors of the delegation to Korea from the National Governors’ Association of Japan visited Cheong Wa Dae (the Blue House) to pay their respects to the 17th President of the Republic of Korea, Mr. Lee Myung-bak.

Joint Statement of the 4th Japan-Korea Governors’ Conference

In the national management of the 21st century, new trends are shifting the paradigm from bureaucratic initiative to “people” initiative, from central to local governments. In other words, the trend is to shift from a centralized administration system to a decentralized administration system.

Interaction and cooperation between local governments, in addition to diplomacy by the central government, are getting more important each day in respect to international relations, and the practical roles of such interaction and cooperation are also becoming more significant.

Various interactions between Japan and Korea have already occurred on private, academic, and governmental levels. The more decentralized both countries become, the stronger the relationships between the municipalities and the people will be, driven by lively communication which will contribute to mutual understanding.

For that purpose, the strong “independence” of municipalities will be needed as a base, and consequently the “establishment of decentralized nations” is an urgent issue in this age.

Under such circumstances, the Governors of both Korea and Japan empathized with the fact that interaction and cooperation between municipalities were contributing to the peace and prosperity of both countries, and they therefore held the 4th Japan-Korea Governors’ Conference in Seoul, the Republic of Korea, on this day. During the Conference, the Governors discussed the “current situation and future outlook for decentralization” in both Korea and Japan, as well as the “current situation regarding the interaction between municipalities, and the role and direction of future development of this interaction” between the countries, and agreed to the following matters:

○ The National Governors’ Associations of Japan and Korea recognize the reality and issues of each country with respect to the current situation and future outlook for decentralization, and support the reforms promoted by each Association.

○ Both countries will have a common objective in the establishment of municipality-focused decentralized nations, which is becoming a world trend, and will actively cooperate with each other in areas such as providing information on decentralization in the future.

○ The National Governors’ Associations of Japan and Korea value the role of interaction between the cities and prefectures of both countries, and will enhance their support for such interaction in order to realize in the future stable grass-roots interaction in various areas including culture, tourism, economy, industry, and sport.

○ The National Governors’ Associations of Japan and Korea will hold the 5th Japan-Korea Governors’ Conference in Japan in 2010 in order to develop interaction and cooperation in activities between the National Governors’ Associations of Japan and Korea.

April 10, 2008

Wataru Aso, President of the National Governors’ Association of Japan Kim Jin-son, President of the National Governors’ Asssociation of the Republic of Korea