S. Korea to send invitations to APEC member states as soon as new gov't launches

South Korea plans to send formal invitations to the 20 member states of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) for the upcoming summit as soon as the new government launches following the June 3 presidential election, a foreign ministry official said Tuesday.

The southeastern city of Gyeongju is set to host the multilateral summit between late October and early November, during which up to 3,500 high-level government officials from the member economies are expected to attend, including the leaders.

South Korea will hold the presidential vote next week to choose the successor to former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was removed from office on April 4 over his botched martial law attempt.

"Since this is a regular annual event, we are planning under the assumption that all member states will attend," a ministry official told reporters on background.

The APEC host country typically sends invitations twice to inform the participating countries of the event schedule before the summit takes place.

Asked about U.S. President Donald Trump's potential visit to South Korea for the summit, the official said the government has been in talks with the U.S. side over the matter.

"We've repeatedly conveyed the importance of the APEC summit and emphasized the significance of President Trump's participation," she said. "Arrangements are being made on the assumption that he will make it to the event."

The official noted though that there has been no clear signal from Washington about Trump's potential attendance.

On the possibility of Chinese President Xi Jinping attending the forum, the official said there is a "shared understanding" with Beijing that Xi's participation in the APEC summit will serve as a "good opportunity to further develop bilateral relations," without elaborating further. (Yonhap)