• US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to hold a bilateral meeting in South Korea on Thursday 

ISTANBUL 

Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered taxis will ferry foreign guests as South Korea prepares to host world and regional leaders for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit amid sweeping global tariffs imposed by the US.

The southeastern coastal city of Gyeongju will take center stage for the two-day gathering.

The event, which runs from Friday to Saturday, marks the second time in two decades that South Korea has hosted leaders and representatives from the 21 member economies.

The summit comes as US tariffs continue to disrupt global supply chains, prompting countries such as China, South Korea and Japan to negotiate individual trade deals with Washington.

Roads surrounding the Gyeongju Hwabaek International Convention Center, the main venue for the summit, are under tight security, with many police vehicles patrolling the area.

Some 250 South Korean volunteers have been deployed at major APEC event venues, hotels for leaders and tourists and popular tourist spots across the city.

The city government has introduced an AI-powered interpretation and translation system in about 1,000 taxis operating across Gyeongju.

US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are scheduled to meet Thursday on the sidelines of the summit.

Trump’s visit to South Korea will be his first since 2019 and for Xi the first since 2014 and will also mark the first time US and Chinese leaders will be hosted as state guests outside the capital Seoul.

Issues regarding tariffs, trade, rare earths and soybeans are among the topics expected to be discussed between the leaders of the world’s two major economies a day ahead of the APEC summit.

The two sides held two days of trade talks over the weekend in Malaysia, where the US side said it had reached a “very substantial framework” on trade ties with China, while the Chinese side said they had reached a “preliminary consensus.”

Besides Xi, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung is expected to host several leaders including the Sultan of Brunei, Hassan Al-Bolkiah, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Chile's President Gabriel Boric and Vietnamese President Luong Cuong.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong are also expected to attend the summit.

The summit is projected to create approximately 23,000 jobs and generate an economic impact of 7.4 trillion won ($5.1 billion), according to a joint report by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) and consulting firm Deloitte.