Busan bows out of race to host 2025 APEC summit

Busan Metropolitan City has decided not to bid to host next year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

The summit will bring together leaders from 21 countries across the Asia-Pacific region, including the United States, China and Japan, to discuss inclusive and sustainable growth strategies and innovative measures.

Since the city announced its bid to host the event last year, it has been mentioned as a strong contender thanks to its track record of hosting the 2005 edition.

Notably, the city had been steadily preparing for the 2025 APEC summit, such as by providing research services for the Busan Development Institute in 2022, aiming to prepare to play host.

Busan’s decision to bow out also came after its failure last year to host the World Expo 2030. Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh won the right to host the quadrennial event, and some believe that negative sentiments sparked by the setback may have led to the port city’s recent decision.

Instead, the city intends to focus on becoming a global hub with legislative backing.

Previously, Busan sought to put itself on the map as a global hub, aiming to make 2024 the inaugural year through an act including regulatory reform and tax support to foster the city as one of the two pillars of national development along with the country’s capital region, which includes Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province.

Consultations between relevant ministries have been completed, but the act is still pending at the National Assembly. Given this, the Busan city government announced that it would prioritize this issue for the development of the southern city.

Meanwhile, with Busan dropping its bid, the race will become a three-way one — Jeju Island, Gyeongju of North Gyeongsang Province and Incheon.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will accept applications from cities hoping to host the event by Friday and will select a candidate city through a written review within this month. Following an on-site inspection of the candidate cities next month, the foreign ministry plans to announce the final host city in June.