Korea joined APEC as one of its 12 founding Member Economies when APEC was first established in 1989. As the only regional economic cooperating body in which Korea is a participating member, APEC is making great contributions towards promoting liberalization of trade and investments and new market expansion for Korea and in particular its 21 Member Economies occupy 70.3% of Korea's total trade and 63.7% of foreign investments to Korea.

Recognizing this importance, Korea has been hosting various APEC meetings whilst actively participating in many of APEC activities. Korea hosted the 3rd APEC Ministerial Meeting in 1991, the 1st APEC Ministerial Meeting on Telecommunication in 1995, the 2nd APEC Minister's Conference on Regional Science and Technology Cooperation in 1996 and most recently, the 1st APEC Ocean-related Ministerial Meeting in 2002. In addition, the 13th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting will be held in the Republic of Korea in 2005.

Accordingly, approximately 20~30 APEC-related meetings and events, including the annual Economic Leaders' Meeting and ministerial meeting, will be held throughout Korea in 2005. Leaders from 21 Asia-Pacific economies will attend the Economic Leaders' Meeting. Also, it is expected that approximately 6,000 domestic and overseas personnel including government representatives, business people and press will participate in the event.