South Korea’s Lee hopes to tackle AI and demographic issues at APEC summit

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said on Saturday he hoped to cooperate with Asia-Pacific countries to tackle issues related to artificial intelligence and demographic changes at an annual summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.
The APEC host nation has ambitions to become one of the world’s top-three AI powers, but its economic fortunes face challenges from a rapidly ageing society with its birthrate in 2024 the lowest in the world.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent were attending a session to discuss how to navigate the rapid take-up of AI and respond to the demographic changes shared by many of the countries in the region.
The 21-member APEC bloc accounts for 50% of global trade and 61% of world GDP.
“The APEC AI Initiative, proposed by South Korea, is the outcome of our strong will to transform a grand change into an opportunity,” Lee said in remarks at the beginning of the session.