Gyeongju: The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders’ summit is set to commence on Friday, focusing on establishing common ground on trade, supply chains, and other shared regional challenges amid a rising trend of unilateral trade barriers. The two-day event brings together leaders from 21 APEC member economies and representatives from several international organizations, including the World Trade Organization (WTO), to discuss strategies for promoting future growth and co-prosperity in a rapidly changing global landscape.
According to Yonhap News Agency, APEC leaders have arrived in Gyeongju for this week’s forum, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. U.S. President Donald Trump is not attending the leaders’ summit, having left after participating in a business forum and holding discussions with President Lee and President Xi. As the host of this year’s APEC events, South Korea aims to produce an outcome endorsed by all APEC participants in its propose
d “Gyeongju Declaration” and highlight its initiatives, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and demographic changes.
The leaders’ gathering will commence with President Lee Jae Myung welcoming his visiting counterparts and participating guests before the start of the first session, which Lee himself will preside over. The second session is scheduled for Saturday. Over the two sessions, leaders will evaluate suggestions made by top foreign and trade officials of the APEC members on ways to enhance the Asia-Pacific region’s prosperity, focusing on strengthening cooperation in supply chains and digital transition.
A key point of interest is whether and to what extent the leaders will reach a consensus on shaping the path for international trade, as differing views exist regarding the global free trade order underpinned by multilateralism and the WTO system. In recent years, most APEC economies have endorsed free trade based on the WTO system and reaffirmed their commitment to multilateralism. Between 2021 and
2024, all APEC summit declarations included the phrase: a rules-based multilateral trading system with the WTO “at its core,” which first appeared in the 2021 declaration, after Trump’s first term ended.
A leaders’ declaration can only be adopted by consensus, requiring support from every APEC member. Following the final APEC ministerial meeting on Thursday, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun stated that the forum is “very close” to adopting a joint declaration, with last-minute negotiations ongoing regarding the ministerial statement, which will be forwarded to the leaders’ session. “We expect the ministerial document to be adopted by Saturday, when we will have the leaders’ retreat,” Cho said.
Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo, who co-led the ministers’ session with Cho, mentioned that a broad agreement has been reached in the supply chains, digital, and environment sectors, describing them as “the core of today’s trade agenda and the pillar of the future economy.” He added, “We will continue to uphold the m
ultilateral regime based on the WTO, but as the WTO system is at stake, we are also in support of plurilateral cooperation.” Plurilateralism refers to the concept of international cooperation among a smaller group of countries, as opposed to multilateralism.