First Senior Officials’ Meeting of APEC 2025 Successfully Held in Gyeongju

1. From February 24 to March 9, the First Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM1) and related meetings of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) 2025 were successfully held in Gyeongju, Korea, led by APEC SOM Chair Yoon Seongmee. The Korean government, this year’s APEC host economy, proposed “Artificial Intelligence (AI) Cooperation” and “Response to Demographic Changes in the Asia-Pacific Region” as key deliverables.

※ APEC is the largest economic cooperation forum in the Asia-Pacific region, comprising 21 member economies including Korea, China, Japan, the Russian Federation and the United States.

※ The Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) serves as APEC’s high-level consultative body for discussions among its member economies on cooperation agendas. It is held four times and once annually in the form of formal and informal meetings, respectively, with their outcomes reported at the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting and Ministerial Meeting.

- Korea was represented by Lee Jiyoon, Deputy Director-General for International Economic Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in her capacity as Senior Official.

2. At the first official APEC event of 2025, Korea outlined two key deliverables for APEC-wide cooperation this year -- “AI Cooperation” and “Response to Demographic Changes” including challenges such as declining birth rates and aging populations.

3. Regarding AI, Korea proposed guiding principles to harness the limitless potential of AI in an inclusive and sustainable manner. With respect to demographic changes, Korea presented collaborative initiatives through which to turn demographic challenges into opportunities. Member economies welcomed these priorities, recognizing them as timely and relevant since these challenges are faced across the Asia-Pacific region. In that light, they expressed their strong interest in and support for Korea’s initiatives.

4. This event in Gyeongju consisted of a total of 24 meetings, including SOM1 (March 8-9); meetings of the Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI), the SOM Steering Committee on Economic and Technical Cooperation (SCE), the Budget and Management Committee (BMC), and the Economic Committee (EC); and various sub-fora meetings. An APEC Finance and Central Bank Deputies’ Meeting was also convened. These meetings brought together approximately 2,000 participants, including delegations from all 21 APEC member economies and the APEC Secretariat.

5. Throughout the meetings held over two weeks, APEC members discussed concrete initiatives and action plans to achieve this year’s theme and priorities -- “Building a Sustainable Tomorrow: Connect, Innovate, Prosper” -- followed by a comprehensive review at SOM1 on the last two days of the event.

6. On the sidelines of the multilateral meetings, SOM Chair Yoon Seongmee and Senior Official Lee Jiyoon held bilateral meetings with senior officials from Canada, China, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, the Russian Federation, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand and the United States. During the bilateral meetings, these member economies expressed strong support for Korea’s theme, priorities and key deliverables, as well as high expectations for Korea’s leadership as the host of APEC 2025 amid the rapidly evolving global dynamics of late.

7. Additionally, Korea held a “Troika” meeting with Peru and China, the previous and next APEC host economies, respectively, during which the three sides agreed to work closely together for a successful implementation of this year’s agenda and a continuity in APEC’s long-term efforts.

8. SOM1 also served as an opportunity to introduce to APEC members Gyeongju, the host city for the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in the second half of 2025. Participants praised the conference facilities, the progress in the preparation efforts, the seamless organization, and the hospitality provided for delegations. Gyeongju’s rich historical and cultural heritage also received high appreciation.

9. Looking ahead, Korea will hold SOM2 in Jeju (May) and SOM3 in Incheon (July-August) as well as 11 sectoral ministerial meetings and 2 high-level dialogues covering ocean-related affairs, human resources, education and trade, between those two SOMs. APEC 2025 will wrap up with the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in the second half of the year.