Dear Members,

It is my great honor to announce the inauguration of the China-Japan-Korea Association of Radiopharmaceutical Sciences (CJKARS) on behalf of all CJK members. The leadership of three countries (Zhi Yang, Yuji Kuge, and Yearn Seong Choe) had a meeting during the ISRS 2019 (Beijing, China), and shared the feeling that it is high time to form an Asian regional society in our field. Consequently, we agreed to establish the CJKARS. Goes without saying that we have a full support from the Society of Radiopharmaceutical Sciences, which now acknowledges us as its sister society.

The CJKARS is a professional organization dedicated to the advancement of education and research in the field of radiopharmaceutical sciences in China, Japan, and Korea. One of the main missions of the Association is to organize and support the China-Japan-Korea joint symposium. The symposium was initiated from the Japan-China Joint Seminar on Radiopharmaceutical Chemistry, which was first held in Fukuoka, Japan in 1987. This seminar had been held until the 9th meeting in 2015. Korea started participating in the symposium as a co-organizer since the 10th China-Japan-Korea Symposium on Radiopharmaceutical Sciences (CJKSRS) in 2018 (Xiamen, China). We will continue to organize the symposium biennially, and each country will host the symposium in order of Korea (2021)-Japan-China.

I believe that the CJKARS is in a perfect position to support the field of radiopharmaceutical sciences in Asia in terms of advancing science, sharing diverse knowledge, communicating with others, etc. In this context, I hope that many scientists and students of these three countries will join our Association to contribute to enhancing the healthcare by advancing education, research, and application in the field of radiopharmaceutical sciences.

Sincerely yours,