The first Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM1) of APEC 2026 and its related sessions were held in Guangzhou, China, from February 1 to 10. As the first official forum for discussions on the road to the 2026 APEC Leaders' Summit, the meeting gave member economies the opportunity to review the direction of future cooperation and key agenda items.

The Coordinator for Economic Diplomacy at Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Park Jong-han, led the Korean delegation and participated in the Senior Officials' Meeting as well as four major committee meetings: the Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI), the Steering Committee on Economic and Technical Cooperation (SCE), the Economic Committee (EC), and the Budget and Management Committee (BMC). The delegation actively engaged in discussions aimed at producing substantive outcomes for APEC 2026.

At the meeting, Korea, in its capacity as the previous year's APEC host, expressed support for a successful 2026 APEC, and affirmed its intention to contribute to ensuring that the key outcomes of the 2025 Leaders' Summit are faithfully carried forward and built upon throughout this year's discussions.

China, as the current APEC host, introduced its theme for 2026: "Building an Asia-Pacific Community to Prosper Together: Openness, Innovation, Cooperation." China also outlined the deliverables and planned schedule for each of its priority areas.

The plans announced by China call for holding more than ten sectoral ministerial meetings and high-level dialogues throughout the year. They will cover areas such as trade, digital and AI advancements, and transportation, along with a range of high-level forums focused on digital innovation and related fields, to be held in conjunction with a "Digital Week."

These discussions are expected to culminate in outcomes at the Leaders' Summit scheduled for November, and Korea has indicated it will continue to actively participate in the relevant processes to ensure that the key agreements reached at the 2025 Leaders' Summit are faithfully reflected throughout the APEC process this year.

During the meeting, Park Jong-han held bilateral consultations with senior officials from China, Japan, Canada, Vietnam, and other key member economies. The discussions covered China's priorities and core deliverables for APEC 2026, Korea's follow-up actions as the previous host, and the review and revision of the Aotearoa Plan of Action. The latter is a concrete implementation roadmap for achieving APEC's long-term vision, the Putrajaya Vision 2040.

Separately, as APEC’s previous host, Korea is chairing the Budget and Management Committee (BMC), which oversees APEC's budget for the current year. Lee Ji-yoon, Director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Bureau of International Economic Affairs, presided over the first BMC meeting held on February 9.

Following this first Senior Officials' Meeting, APEC members will continue consultations centered on China's proposed theme and priority areas. They will work toward sustainable economic growth and regional integration in the Asia-Pacific ahead of the Leaders' Summit on November 18–19.

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(translated by AI, edited by David Kendall)