Gyeongbuk Province Declares Gyeongju City as Host for 2025 APEC Summit

Gyeongju City Builds Infrastructure as a Coexistence Site for World Cultural Heritage and Korea's Economic Development History

Governor Lee Cheol-woo of Gyeongbuk Province and Mayor Joo Nak-young of Gyeongju City on the 6th announcing plans to host the APEC Summit.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Dongguk Lee] Gyeongbuk Province has declared its intention to host the 32nd APEC Summit in 2025 in Gyeongju City.

On the morning of the 6th, Gyeongbuk Governor Lee Cheol-woo held a press conference at the Gyeongbuk Provincial Government briefing room together with Gyeongju Mayor Joo Nak-young, stating, "Gyeongju City, where World Cultural Heritage and the history of Korea's economic development coexist, has sufficient infrastructure to host the APEC Summit," and requested support for Gyeongju's bid from Daegu City and the Daegu-Gyeongbuk Residents Association in Seoul.

Following the declaration of the bid, Gyeongbuk Province formed the "2025 APEC Summit Gyeongju Bid Promotion Team," led by Ambassador of International Relations Koo Hyun-mo, with participation from Gyeongju City, Gyeongsangbuk-do Cultural Tourism Corporation, Gyeongju Hwa-baek Convention Bureau, and Daegu-Gyeongbuk Research Institute, to begin data collection, analysis, and preparation planning.

The promotion team plans to consolidate the province-wide public will for the bid and carry out government lobbying activities such as progress report meetings, large-scale public debates, signature campaigns, adoption of support resolutions for hosting in Gyeongju, and submission of proposals to the government.

Governor Lee Cheol-woo emphasized, "Gyeongju is the optimal location for the 2025 APEC Summit because it can simultaneously showcase Korea's beautiful traditional culture and dazzling economic development," adding, "The city itself is so historically dignified that it could be called a World Cultural Heritage site, making it a place where world leaders can truly experience the beauty of Korea."

He continued, "With industrial hubs like Pohang City, Gumi City, and Ulsan Metropolitan City nearby, we can introduce world leaders to the sites of Korea's economic growth they are curious about, and by incorporating Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies into the summit, we can create a historic scene where traditional culture and a new future coexist."

He further stated, "Through the APEC Summit, we will promote Korea's thousands of years of history, beautiful traditional culture, brilliant development, and future to the world," expressing his ambition that "Gyeongbuk will continue to host various international events and interact with global talents, expanding globally through the integrated new airport and Yeongilman Port."

The Daegu-Gyeongbuk Research Institute predicted that hosting the 2025 APEC Summit in Gyeongju would generate an economic impact in the Gyeongbuk region of 972 billion KRW in production inducement, 465.4 billion KRW in added value inducement, and 7,908 jobs. Nationwide, it is expected to induce 1.8863 trillion KRW in production, 885.2 billion KRW in added value, and 14,438 jobs.

Meanwhile, the APEC Summit is the only forum where the leaders of the four major powers?the U.S., China, Japan, and Russia?gather in one place, rotating among the 21 member countries of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. South Korea previously hosted the summit in Busan in 2005.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.