Several parts combine into one character.

近 is a phonetic-semantic compound: 辶 (the "going" radical, depicting a foot taking a halting step) plus 斤 (jīn, "axe" — providing only the sound, jin → kin → geun → kin/chika across CJK). The semantic logic is in the 辶 component: the picture is of motion that requires only a few steps to complete — short travel, hence "near." The 辶 (also written 辵 in older forms) is the root radical for the entire vocabulary of motion and distance: 走 (run), 遠 (far), 近 (near), 通 (pass through), 過 (cross over), 進 (advance), 退 (retreat), 達 (arrive).

Korean reading "geun." 最近 (choegeun, recent / "most near"), 近處 (geuncheo, vicinity), 接近 (jeopgeun, approach), 遠近 (wongeun, "far-near" = perspective in art), 近代 (geundae, modern era — "near era," contrasting with 古代 ancient era), 親近 (chingeun, close / intimate — "親 + 近 = familial closeness"). The character's extension to time (recently, modern era) is identical across all CJK languages — closeness in time is felt as closeness in space.

Mandarin jìn, 4th tone. 最近 (zuìjìn, recently / lately — extremely common in conversation), 附近 (fùjìn, nearby), 接近 (jiējìn, to approach / be close to), 近视 (jìnshì, "near-sight" = nearsightedness / myopia). 远近 (yuǎnjìn, far and near) — fixed pair perfectly mirroring Korean 원근.

Japanese on-reading キン (kin) — 最近 (saikin, recently), 近所 (kinjo, neighborhood — literally "near place," the standard Japanese word for "the area around where you live"), 接近 (sekkin, approach / proximity), 近代 (kindai, modern era — Japanese historiography uses 近代 for roughly 1868-1945 and 現代 gendai for postwar). Kun-reading ちかい (chikai, "near") — 近い (chikai), 近く (chikaku, nearby), 近づく (chikazuku, to approach / draw near). Just as in Korean and Mandarin, Japanese ちかい extends naturally to non-spatial meanings: 5月に近い (gogatsu ni chikai, "close to May"), 縁が近い (en ga chikai, "the connection is close").

Memory aid: 辶 (going) + 斤 (just the sound) — motion of only a few steps is "near."