Key Takeaways

-  By securing consensus on a 38-point statement, South Korea demonstrated its ability to convene cooperation amid U.S.–China tensions and global trade fragmentation.

-  The summit allowed Seoul to project leadership on AI and defend multilateral trade norms central to its development story.

-  High-level meetings with the U.S., China, and Japan elevated South Korea’s diplomatic standing despite Trump’s absence from the main forum.

Hosting multilateral diplomatic gatherings is a key pillar of South Korea’s foreign policy, from the G20 Summit in 2010, UN Peacekeeping Ministerial in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, to the Summit for Democracy of 2024. For successive South Korean governments, hosting multilateral gatherings has been a means to showcase Seoul’s support for multilateralism and its convening power.

Arguably, the hosting of the APEC 2025 Summit has been South Korea’s most difficult balancing act with this type of events. After all, hosting a gathering to promote and support economic cooperation at a time when multilateral trade is fraying, economic nationalism is rising, and the two largest economies are engaged in a trade and technology war is no small feat.

In this context, the fact that South Korean officials were able to drive consensus on a 38-point joint statement emphasising a “commitment” to an “Asia-Pacific community” should not be underestimated. Leading up to the summit, there were real concerns that the differences between the United States and China would prevent consensus on a joint statement. In the end, the joint statement issued by the APEC ministers had a positive tone that would have allowed the Lee Jae-myung government to quietly celebrate a diplomatic success.

Particularly important for South Korea was the recognition of its important role in the area of AI, particularly its hosting of the inaugural APEC Digital and AI Ministerial Meeting. The Lee government has launched a National AI Strategy Committee, following in the footsteps of the AI Framework Act adopted in January of this year and due to take effect in the coming January. The Lee government has also set the goal for South Korea to become one of the top three AI global powers, focusing on infrastructure, talent development, regulation or public-private cooperation. The APEC Summit and other activities linked to the main event served for the Lee government to present Seoul’s credentials in this area in front of its Asia-Pacific peers, helping to make the point that the AI race has other players outside of China and the United States.

Also relevant for the Lee government was the strong focus of the APEC joint statement on highlighting the role of the WTO in global trade governance. The WTO has become severely weakened in recent years due to China’s protectionist trade policy, the way the United States has turned against the organisation or the negative perception of India and other developing countries about its alleged bias towards developed countries. Yet, the WTO and trade liberalisation in general have been key pillars of South Korea’s successful development story. This explains why South Korea continues to be one of the countries arguing for the WTO to continue to play a role in global trade governance. Therefore, the Lee government was keen to have APEC at least rhetorically uphold the importance of this institution.

Outside of the joint statement, Seoul was pleased that the APEC summit served Donald Trump and Xi Jinping to hold their first meeting since the US president started his second term in January of this year. This was a diplomatic coup for the Lee government, which can credibly claim that it helped to create the conditions for the American and Chinese leaders to meet and de-escalate the tariff and trade war between the two countries—with its negative effects on South Korea itself, among many other countries.

Furthermore, Lee himself took advantage of the APEC summit to hold meetings with Trump, Xi and new Japanese leader Takaichi Sanae. The three of them were meaningful for South Korea. Lee’s meeting with Trump created the conditions for the two sides to formally announce that the United States supports South Korea’s development of nuclear-powered submarines, their defence chiefs will seek to expedite the transfer of wartime operational control of the ROK Armed Forces, and the US will formally cut tariffs on a range of South Korean products as a part of a trade and investment deal. As for Lee’s meeting with Xi, it marked the first visit by the Chinese leader to South Korea since 2014. Even though ties between Seoul and Beijing remain strained, the visit at least underscored that the two sides are seeking to manage their relationship. Meanwhile, the meeting between Lee and Takaichi was helpful to underscore that Seoul and Tokyo seek to continue working together with each other as has been the case in recent years.

Perhaps South Korea’s biggest failure during the APEC summit was Trump’s decision to skip the forum. This is not particularly unusual, since Trump has also decided to skip the upcoming G20 summit in South Africa, barely stayed a few hours during this year’s NATO summit, and left the June G7 summit early. Nonetheless, Seoul worked hard behind the scenes to convince Trump to attend the main APEC meeting. Thus, it was a diplomatic blow to have the US president decide not to attend.

Overall, in any case, South Korea can be satisfied with its hosting of the APEC summit. The summit helped Seoul mark its return to the centre of the international stage following the December martial law declaration fracas. The Lee government also skilfully used the summit to advance its foreign policy agenda. It now needs to build on the momentum created by the summit to continue to show that South Korea is truly back.