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Korea banks on Gyeongju APEC summit amid political crisis, but doubts remain

Published: 26 Dec. 2024, 18:01 Updated: 26 Dec. 2024, 18:08

LIM JEONG-WON
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An inter-ministerial emergency preparation review meeting for the upcoming 2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit to be held in Gyeongju is held at the headquarters of the North Gyeongsang Provincial Government in Andong on Dec. 17. [NORTH GYEONGSANG PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT]

The upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit scheduled for next November in Gyeongju has grown in importance due to Korea's unstable domestic political situation following the government's botched declaration of martial law and President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment.

The multilateral APEC summit is meaningful in itself, but the event has also emerged as an opportunity to inform the international community of Korea’s stable presence domestically and internationally. The summit could become a symbolic event that lets the world know that Korea, facing a democratic crisis, remains healthy.

The Korean government emphasized Thursday that it would "prepare for the APEC summit without any problems, without being influenced by the political situation.”

“We should not be influenced by the domestic political situation, and we will do our best to avoid being influenced,” a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson told reporters on Thursday. “Since our country itself is the host country, not the president, even if the president changes, our country's status as chair will not change.”

“We can invest the budget for infrastructure construction and facility reorganization according to the plan and report and decide per the acting president system,” another Foreign Ministry official explained.

The Foreign Ministry emphasized that no country raised doubts about Korea’s ability to serve as the chair during the APEC Informal Senior Officials Meeting (ISOM) held in Seoul for three days from Dec. 9, following Yoon's declaration of martial law.

However, there are concerns that if acting President Han’s term is prolonged, the name on the invitation sent to APEC members around May or June next year may have to change.

“We will have to review this, but if the invitations have to be sent out during the acting president’s term, it will be done so,” said a Foreign Ministry official.

Others point out that the opposition parties’ push to impeach Han may hinder preparations for the APEC summit. Han has been chairman of the summit preparation committee since August.

The Foreign Ministry official was tight-lipped about this, saying, “If the impeachment bill against Han is passed, we will review the situation then.”

Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang In-sun delivers an opening speech at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) 2025 Informal Senior Officials' Meeting (ISOM) Symposium held in Seoul on the Dec. 9. [YONHAP]

The most contentious factor for next year's APEC summit is expected to be the potential attendance of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office in January, and that of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The APEC summit has become a crucial stage for global diplomacy in recent years, with the leaders of the U.S. and China attending together almost every year.

The most recent summit between U.S. President Joe Biden and President Xi was held on the sidelines of this year’s APEC summit in Lima, Peru, between Nov. 15 and 16.

The Korean government is actively pushing for Xi’s attendance at the APEC summit in Gyeongju next year, as Korea-China relations have recently shown signs of improvement, and also because China is the APEC chair next year.

“China is very interested in APEC at the highest level,” the Foreign Ministry official said. “Xi’s attendance will be confirmed after the invitation is sent, but we will closely discuss it during the preliminary meeting.”

During a joint press conference for the foreign press with Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok on Dec. 18, Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul said Xi had attended every APEC summit over the last 10 years, and that Korea was talking to the Chinese side under that premise.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry, as well as the Korean government, said that China “supports Korea hosting the APEC summit” during a Dec. 24 phone call between the Korean and Chinese foreign ministers, the first such call between the two nations' top envoys after the martial law declaration, a development seen as a positive sign.

If Xi visits Gyeongju next year, it will be the first time in 11 years that he has visited Korea since the Park Geun-hye administration in 2014.

However, with the impeachment situation, the appointment of Kim Dae-ki, the next ambassador to Beijing, has been effectively nullified, and concerns are growing about a vacuum in diplomacy between Korea and China.

“Based on precedent, the groundwork for drawing leaders [to attend] should be carried out from early next year at the earliest, but the absence of leadership, such as the vacancy of the ambassador to China, is a big problem,” a government source said on the condition of anonymity.

The 2005 Busan APEC Summit drew many leaders from major countries, including then-U.S. President George W. Bush, then-Chinese President Hu Jintao, then-Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Some also worry that Trump may not attend the APEC summit. Trump has focused on an “America First” policy since his first term as president, neglecting multilateral meetings such as APEC.

Trump attended only two APEC summits — an annual event — during his four-year term, in 2017 and 2020.

Korea's diplomatic vacuum is also fueling concerns that the country has fallen far behind in negotiations with the United States ahead of Trump’s second term, which will begin on Jan. 20.

Meanwhile, Russia has sent its deputy prime minister in charge of international organizations to APEC instead of Putin himself since 2022, when the war in Ukraine began.

Regarding the invitation to Russia, an official from Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said, “We will consider recent cases.”

Inviting APEC-member Taiwan is also thorny, with China opposing its attendance. In recent years, Taiwan has sent a representative other than its president, and the practice is that an official from the chair country is sent to Taipei instead of a formal invitation being posted.

BY PARK HYUN-JU, LIM JEONG-WON [[email protected]]