Joonakyoung, Mayor of Gyeongju, Meets Rebecca, APEC Secretary-General, Saying "Gyeongju is the Best Place for the Summit"

Joo Nak-young, Mayor of Gyeongju City, visited the Secretary-General of the APEC Secretariat in Singapore to advocate for hosting the 2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Gyeongju.

On the 26th, Gyeongju City announced that Mayor Joo Nak-young met with Dr. Rebecca Fatima Sta Maria, head of the APEC Secretariat, to directly explain the rationale for hosting the 2025 APEC Summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, and exchanged various opinions during the meeting.

Gyeongju Mayor Joo Nak-young is taking a commemorative photo after gifting a Tae-hwan-sik earring to Rebecca Fatima Star Maria, Secretary-General and head of the APEC Secretariat.

At the meeting, Mayor Joo emphasized that Gyeongju is a city representing Korea’s history and culture, the most Korean city, and a business international conference complex city with concentrated accommodation and conference infrastructure, making it an optimal location for summit security and safety. He explained the advantages of Gyeongju as a host city for the APEC Summit and requested support.

He also highlighted that Gyeongju, with its nuclear energy sector and e-mobility industry, is connected to advanced industrial cities such as Ulsan, Pohang, and Gumi, facilitating investment attraction and sharing economic policies in various fields. This aligns with APEC’s three major visions of trade and investment liberalization, innovative digital economy, and inclusive sustainable growth.

Mayor Joo stated, “Gyeongju is well known as a historical and cultural city with the largest number of cultural heritage sites in South Korea, but please also remember that it embodies the characteristics of a high-tech industrial science city centered on the energy sector, including SMR. Hosting the summit in Gyeongsangbuk-do and Gyeongju, which have been the cultural identity and industrial economic foundation of South Korea, will be an opportunity to further elevate APEC’s vision and values.”

In response, Secretary-General Rebecca said, “We highly appreciate Gyeongju City’s active efforts to host the APEC Summit,” and added, “We hope that APEC’s values will shine in Gyeongju and South Korea.”

Secretary-General Rebecca also noted, “Gyeongju is not the first city to visit for the 2025 APEC Summit bid, but it is clearly the most prepared and attractive city,” and advised, “Since various meetings will be held during the summit week, careful preparations should be made for summit security as well as convenience and safety measures for the delegation’s movement routes.”

On the 25th, Mayor Joo Nak-young visited the Gyeongju promotional booth at ‘ITB ASIA 2023’ held at Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Centre in Singapore, encouraged the on-site staff, and actively promoted and attracted MICE infrastructure in Gyeongju through direct meetings with overseas buyers.

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