Executives worldwide invited to Korea’s APEC CEO Summit

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO Summit 2025 will be held in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, from Oct. 28 to 31, with about 1,700 global business leaders and staff expected to attend.

As of Sept. 18, around 900 executives, including representatives from Google and Meta, have confirmed participation, according to business sources. Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser and Mevo Group CEO Kevin Xu are set to speak at the event. In March, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, led by SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, sent invitations to about 1,000 major global companies, including those on Fortune’s Global 500 list. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy sent follow-up invitations in August under the name of Minister Ahn Duk-keun.

Chey has personally taken the lead in recruiting top tech leaders. At the Korea-U.S. summit’s business roundtable last month, he reportedly asked Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to attend and received a positive response. In July, he visited OpenAI’s headquarters in San Francisco to deliver an invitation directly to CEO Sam Altman.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew are also in talks to join, sources said. Earlier, Chey told President Lee Jae-myung at their first business roundtable that he would personally invite “big-shot” executives and aimed to draw representatives from 1,700 overseas companies.

The APEC CEO Summit is an official sideline event of the APEC Leaders’ Meeting, serving as a platform for corporate leaders, government officials, academics, and sometimes heads of state. This year’s theme, “3b,” stands for “Beyond” (crossing boundaries), “Business” (through innovation), and “Bridge” (building new partnerships).

At the organizing committee’s launch earlier this year, Chey noted that the letter “b” resembles a raised thumb, saying he hoped Korea would earn a global “thumbs up” through the event.


박종민 blick@donga.com