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APEC CEO Summit Opens in South Korea With AI Center Stage, Consensus in Question

U.S.–China trade rifts are testing APEC's tradition of unified statements.

President Lee Jae Myung delivers an address during the opening ceremony of the APEC CEO Summit at the Gyeongju Arts Center in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, southeastern South Korea, on Oct. 29, 2025. (Yonhap)
Foreign Minister Cho Hyun (L) co-chairs the APEC Ministerial Meeting (AMM) with Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo at a venue in Gyeongju, about 275 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Oct. 30, 2025. (Yonhap)
The plenary session of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministerial Meeting takes place in the southeastern city of Gyeongju on Oct. 30, 2025. (Yonhap)
South Korean Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo (C) speaks at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministerial Meeting in the southeastern city of Gyeongju on Oct. 30, 2025. (Yonhap)

Overview

  • The business gathering in Gyeongju opened with artificial intelligence and digital transformation as headline topics, drawing leaders such as Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and AWS’s Matt Garman.
  • The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry says about 1,700 participants make this the largest APEC business event to date, with a projected 7.4 trillion won economic impact and 22,000 jobs.
  • Foreign and trade ministers are closing two days of talks to finalize recommendations for leaders and plan to issue a separate ministerial statement.
  • Prospects for a leaders’ declaration remain uncertain given splits over WTO-centered multilateral language, U.S. tariff threats, and China’s controls on rare earth exports, including debate over labeling some actions as economic coercion.
  • President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping are scheduled to hold a bilateral during APEC, a meeting that could influence the declaration’s scope and the summit’s trade agenda.