[Op-ed] APEC's success must now lead to an Asia-Pacific AI center

The 2025 APEC Summit concluded successfully. But the real measure of its worth begins now. What an international event leaves behind matters more than the fact that it was held at all. For APEC to become not merely a diplomatic achievement for South Korea but a foundation for future growth, a new legacy is needed — and at the center of that legacy should be an Asia-Pacific AI Center.

AI is no longer a technology confined to any single industry. It has become the core infrastructure shaping national competitiveness across economics, industry, diplomacy, security, education and culture. Nations that lead in AI now lead the future. Yet the gap in AI capabilities between countries is widening rapidly. Nations with the technology, talent and infrastructure are pulling further ahead, while those without face a growing risk of being left behind in the digital transformation.

To narrow that gap and enable member economies to grow together, APEC has been expanding AI cooperation, and South Korea is pursuing the establishment of an Asia-Pacific AI cooperation hub backed by Official Development Assistance. This is not a simple research and development project. It is an international initiative that uses AI as a vehicle to share policy among member economies, develop talent and build a sustainable framework for cooperation.

The location of an Asia-Pacific AI Center should therefore not be decided on research capacity alone. It must become an international platform where civil servants, researchers, business leaders and university students from member economies can gather continuously to learn, deliberate and collaborate. That is precisely why the host city must also offer the capacity to run international conferences, a global network, stable living conditions and a recognized identity as an international city.

Gyeongju meets all of these conditions. Last year it successfully hosted the APEC Summit, demonstrating to the world its capacity to manage major international events. Its conference facilities, accommodation infrastructure, historical and cultural assets — including UNESCO World Heritage sites — and safe urban environment are the basic prerequisites for an international cooperation platform. Above all, the experience accumulated in welcoming heads of state and delegations from around the world is an invaluable asset that cannot be built overnight.

The essence of an Asia-Pacific AI Center is international cooperation. There is no reason to treat research and development and international cooperation as competing functions. Greater synergy emerges when roles are divided and strengths are linked. If Pohang, with its strong research institutions and advanced industries, takes on AI research, development and technology demonstration, then Gyeongju handling international cooperation, education and training, and policy exchange is the most realistic and effective model. This goes beyond the interests of any single city — it is a path to strengthening North Gyeongsang Province's competitiveness and, in turn, South Korea's standing in AI.

Gyeongju is a city with a thousand-year history as a capital. But it is not a city content to rest on past glory. While preserving the cultural heritage of the Silla Kingdom, it has grown into a leading international conference city representing South Korea, and through the APEC Summit it gained the experience of connecting with the world. In the AI era, technology alone is not what matters most. What matters is the power of cooperation — connecting people with people, and nation with nation. Gyeongju is a city where history, culture and international exchange come together naturally, and it is the city best positioned to embody the value of international cooperation in the AI era.

The APEC Summit is over, but the value of APEC is only beginning. What South Korea must leave to the world is not a single successful international event, but a sustainable foundation for international cooperation. An Asia-Pacific AI Center can be the starting point for that.

Gyeongju, the thousand-year capital, is moving beyond being a city that holds history to becoming a city that connects the future. The Asia-Pacific AI Center is not simply a question of where to place one institution. It is a choice about where South Korea's AI diplomacy should begin. A city that met the world through APEC, and a city that will continue to grow alongside the world — that is why Gyeongju deserves to be that starting point.