Gyeongbuk Local Government Heads Sign Support for Hosting the 'APEC Summit' in Gyeongju

Starting from September, 1 Million Signatures Campaign Launches

Gyeongbuk Province and Gyeongju City are making every effort to host the 2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Gyeongju, and the mayors and county heads of the Gyeongbuk region have joined a signature campaign supporting the hosting of the 2025 APEC Summit in Gyeongju.

The Gyeongbuk Mayors and County Heads Council (Chairman Lee Kang-deok, Mayor of Pohang) signed at the 5th regular meeting of the Gyeongsangbuk-do Mayors and County Heads Council of the 8th local government term held at Gumi City Hall on the 25th, affirming that Gyeongju, the most Korean city representing our country, is the optimal location for hosting the 2025 APEC Summit.

Mayors and county heads in the Gyeongbuk region are signing a petition in support of hosting the 'APEC Summit' in Gyeongju. (From left: Joo Nak-young, Mayor of Gyeongju; Lee Kang-deok, Mayor of Pohang; Kim Jang-ho, Mayor of Gumi)

In particular, they unanimously stated that hosting the summit in Gyeongju would be a golden opportunity to realize the values of inclusive growth advocated by APEC and the national agenda of balanced regional development in the local era, as well as to showcase South Korea’s elevated dignity to the world.

Since July 2021, when Governor Lee Cheol-woo of Gyeongbuk Province and Mayor Joo Nak-young of Gyeongju officially declared their intention to host the 2025 APEC Summit, they have been actively engaged in joint hosting activities. Starting this September, full-scale domestic and international hosting activities are planned, including a one million signature campaign, the Gyeongju Hosting Hope Forum, and the operation of SNS and supporter groups.

Currently, Gyeongju, which is making an all-out effort to host the event, is a city representing the history and culture of South Korea and a proven international conference city. It prides itself on having the qualifications and capabilities, including concentrated conference and accommodation infrastructure within the Bomun Tourist Complex, which is optimized for summit security and safety.

However, among the cities that have expressed their intention to host, Gyeongju is the only basic local government, so cooperation between Gyeongsangbuk-do and the cities and counties within the province is essential to ensure equal opportunities with other competing metropolitan local governments.

Mayor Joo Nak-young of Gyeongju said, “Hosting the APEC Summit in Gyeongju will be a groundbreaking transformation that can maximize the vision and effects of balanced regional development in the local era led by Gyeongbuk. If the summit is held in Gyeongju, its benefits will spread throughout Gyeongbuk Province, so please actively participate in hosting activities, including the one million signature campaign.”

APEC usually holds an annual summit week around November, gathering about 6,000 people including leaders, delegations, and journalists from 21 countries. In the host country, in addition to the summit week, about 30 meetings are held throughout the year in various fields such as senior officials’ meetings, ministerial meetings, and business meetings.

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