South Korea Readies to Facilitate US-China Dialogue at APEC Summit 2025

Kuasa Usaha Kedutaan Besar Korea Selatan untuk Indonesia Park Soo-Deok. Antara/Kuntum Riswan

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - South Korea is gearing up to host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) 2025 Summit from October 31 to November 1, 2025, in Gyeongju. The annual economic forum will bring together 21 member economies from the Asia-Pacific region, including Indonesia, the United States, China, Japan, and South Korea.

Economic Consul at the South Korean Embassy to Indonesia, Kim Chanwoo, said this meeting will be an important moment for Seoul to play a strategic role amid global geopolitical and economic tensions.

"As the host, we are striving to leverage every opportunity to bring both leaders to the APEC meeting, so they can meet with regional members and discuss the region's future direction," he said during a discussion titled "APEC at the Crossroads: Building Bridges for Regional Growth" at the FPCI office, South Jakarta on Monday, October 13, 2025.

The discussion was part of the Indonesian Next Generation Journalist Network on Korea program co-hosted by Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI) and the Korea Foundation.

APEC to Give Room for Trump-Xi Jinping Meeting

One of the primary agendas South Korea prepares is facilitating a meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, at the forum. Kim believes APEC 2025 will be an important moment for Seoul to facilitate dialogue between Washington and Beijing amid the ongoing trade war.

"The world's attention will be on APEC, to see if this forum can play a crucial and neutral role for diplomatic dialogue and efforts to ease tensions between the world's major leaders, such as the United States and China," said Kim.

He explained that the South Korean government will prepare a special room for Trump and Xi to have an in-person meeting. If the meeting is realized, according to Kim, it will be their first direct meeting since Trump's return to office. "I hope the meeting will take place and yield positive results," he said.

South Korea's Three Priorities at APEC

South Korea is promoting three main pillars at the APEC 2025 Summit, namely Connectivity, Innovation, and Prosperity. Connectivity is aimed at strengthening trade, investment, institutions, and people-to-people exchanges in the Asia-Pacific region.

The innovation pillar emphasizes collaboration in digital transformation, artificial intelligence (AI), and bridging the digital divide. Meanwhile, shared prosperity focuses on inclusive and sustainable growth, including cooperation in dealing with global challenges.

Prabowo and Lee Jae Myung Set to Meet

The APEC 2025 Summit in Gyeongju will also bring together Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in their first in-person meeting. According to Kim, since Lee's inauguration on June 4 after the impeachment of Yoon Suk Yeol, he and Prabowo have only spoken over the phone.

"Hopefully, both leaders can expand their discussions to new areas of cooperation, including climate change issues, green energy development, food security, and information and communication technology," Kim added.