- Discussions held on APEC 2025 theme and priorities from diverse perspectives of academia, 

businesses and international organizations -

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a symposium on the APEC 2025 Korea priorities in Seoul, December 9. This symposium was the opening event of the APEC 2025 Informal Senior Officials’ Meeting (ISOM), the first APEC meeting to come since Korea’s assumption of the APEC 2025 chairmanship. It brought together nearly 180 participants, including senior officials of APEC member economies and representatives of the APEC Secretariat as well as relevant government agencies and organizations of Korea.

The symposium featured welcome remarks by Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang Insun and CEO of KOLON Corporation Lee Kyuho who serves as a Korean member of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). In the ensuing session, APEC 2025 SOM Chair Ambassador Yoon Seongmee and CEO of Parastar Entertainment Haley Cha each delivered a keynote speech on the theme of APEC 2025.

* Parastar Entertainment is Korea’s first-ever entertainment agency for talents with disabilities, including athletes, actors and singers, among others.

In her welcome remarks, Vice Minister Kang introduced the theme and priorities of APEC 2025 - “Building a Sustainable Tomorrow: Connect, Innovate, Prosper.” She also expressed her expectations for the symposium to cover in depth how to address diverse challenges  including climate change, emerging technologies, and demographic shifts. She went on to emphasize that Korea, as the chair of APEC 2025, will exert all efforts to successfully hold the Economic Leaders’ Meeting and all other APEC meetings and produce meaningful deliverables in 2025.

In his welcome remarks, Mr. Lee Kyu Ho mentioned that the theme and priorities of APEC 2025 reflect Korea’s pledge to realize sustainable and inclusive prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region, which is a common objective for all APEC members.

SOM Chair Yoon Seongmee commenced her keynote speech with an overview of the APEC 2025 theme and priorities. She also iterated Korea’s commitment to advance towards a sustainable future of the Asia-Pacific region through the realization of the Putrajaya Vision 2040*.

* The Putrajaya Vision 2040, APEC’s long-term vision adopted in its 2020 Economic Leaders’ Meeting, stipulates the direction of APEC cooperation until 2040 through three key drivers - the liberalization of trade and investment, innovative and digital economy, and inclusive and sustainable growth.

In her keynote speech, Ms. Haley Cha highlighted how innovative technology can embrace marginalized groups, citing “Big Ocean,” a K-pop trio with hearing disabilities who debuted this year, as an exemplary case of overcoming difficulties with AI technologies.

The symposium brought together experts from academia from home and abroad, businesses, and international organizations including the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), the International Labor Organization (ILO), and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), who discussed the priorities of APEC 2025.

Later in the day, Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yul hosted a welcome dinner for the senior officials from APEC member economies. He took the opportunity to emphasize that Korea is doing its utmost for the success of APEC 2025 to take place in the city of Gyeongju.