- The Host City Selection Committee, after in-depth discussions, prepared a draft proposal recommending Gyeongsangbuk-do Gyeongju as the host city for 2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting (AELM). -

1. The fourth meeting of the Host City Selection Committee for the 2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting (AELM) was held on June 20, 2024, from 14:00 to 17:00 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul.

   ※ Host city selection progress to date includes:

    - The first meeting of the Host City Selection Committee held on March 21 to establish the criteria for host city selection

    - Applications received from provincial governments from March 27 to April 19

    - The second meeting of the Host City Selection Committee held on May 7 to determine three candidate cities and the plan for the on-site inspection of the cities

    - On-site inspections of the three candidate cities from May 20 to 22

    - The third meeting of the Host City Selection Committee held on June 7 to review the on-site inspection results and present the hosting plans of each candidate city  

ㅇ At this meeting, based on the four selection criteria* established at the first meeting, the members of the Host City Selection Committee comprehensively reviewed and thoroughly discussed the applications of the three candidate cities, -- Gyeongsangbuk-do Gyeongju, Incheon Metropolitan City, and Jeju Special Self-Governing Province (in Korean alphabetical order) -- the on-site inspection results, the outcome of the discussions and comments made at the previous three meetings of the Host City Selection Committee, and each candidate city’s hosting plan presented at the third meeting.

     * ① Excellence of the purpose and basic plan for hosting the 2025 AELM, ② Suitability of city conditions and infrastructures to host international conferences, ③ Conditions for operating the 2025 AELM, ④ Expected contributions to major national policy agenda and regional development goals

2. Based on the in-depth discussions and evaluations, the members of the Host City Selection Committee decided by a majority vote that Gyeongsangbuk-do Gyeongju is the most suitable city for hosting the 2025 AELM given its excellent potential to contribute to national and regional policy goals as well as its rich tourism and cultural resources, and determined to recommend Gyeongsangbuk-do Gyeongju as the host city for the 2025 AELM to the Korea APEC 2025 Organizing Committee.

  ㅇ In addition, the members of the Host City Selection Committee decided to recommend holding major meetings scheduled to take place in Korea during its 2025 host year, such as the Ministerial Meetings and Senior Officials’ Meetings, in Incheon Metropolitan City and Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, both of which were not selected as the host city for the 2025 AELM.

  * As the host economy for APEC 2025, Korea will host more than 200 APEC meetings at all levels -- including the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting (AELM), Sectoral Ministerial Meetings (SMMs), five rounds of Senior Officials’ Meetings (SOMs), and Sub-Committee Meetings -- in 2025, starting with the Informal Senior Officials’ Meeting (ISOM) late this year.

3. The host city proposal will be reviewed and decided upon in the upcoming meeting of the Korea APEC 2025 Organizing Committee.