1. On January 10, Ambassador Yoon Seongmee, APEC Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) Chair, attended the Annual Executive Roundtable of the National Center for APEC (NCAPEC*) held in San Francisco, United States. Ambassador Yoon shared Korea’s preparations for hosting APEC 2025 and encouraged active interest and participation from U.S. businesses.

* NCAPEC serves as the Secretariat for the U.S. APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC), fostering high-level engagement between public officials and private sector leaders across the APEC region such as through its organization of the CEO Summit in the context of the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in 2023.

- (Membership) It comprises approximately 40 U.S. companies, including Microsoft, Google, Amazon, JPMorgan, Visa, Pfizer, and Qualcomm among others.

2. The Roundtable brought together around 50 U.S. stakeholders, including APEC-related officials from the U.S. government, former U.S. Ambassador to Korea Kathleen Stephens, and business executives and personnel from Microsoft, Amazon, IBM, and Pfizer.

3. Ambassador Yoon highlighted that under the theme and priorities of "Building a Sustainable Tomorrow: Connect, Innovate, Prosper," Korea plans to convene over 200 APEC-related meetings throughout 2025, including the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting, Sectoral Ministerial Meetings, and the CEO Summit which is attended by the private sector. In addition, Ambassador Yoon underscored Korea’s firm commitment to ensuring the smooth and successful hosting of APEC meetings.

4. Recognizing APEC’s vital role as a platform for public-private collaboration in the Asia-Pacific region, Ambassador Yoon expressed her hope that Korea’s APEC host year would serve as a valuable opportunity to deepen forward-looking economic cooperation between Korea and the United States. In this regard, Ambassador Yoon called upon the active support and engagement of U.S. businesses.

5. The U.S. business leaders attending the Roundtable expressed keen interest in Korea’s preparations and deliverables for APEC 2025, conveying their strong trust in and expectation for a successful APEC this year.

6. Meanwhile, Korea commenced its APEC host year activities by holding the Informal Senior Officials’ Meeting (ISOM) in Seoul in December 2024, and will convene the First SOM and related meetings in Gyeongju at the end of February 2025.