Gyeongju in South Korea's North Gyeongsang Province has been recommended to host the 2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, Seoul's foreign ministry said Thursday.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the government's host city selection committee voted to recommend Gyeongju as the candidate city for next year's APEC Summit at its fourth meeting.

The upcoming APEC summit is to be hosted in South Korea for the first time in 20 years since its previous one was held in the southeastern port city of Busan in 2005.

Based on discussions and evaluations, the selection committee members decided by a majority vote that Gyeongju, which has excelled in various fields such as contributions to national and regional development and cultural and tourism resources, is the best candidate, according to the ministry. Gyeongju was selected over two other candidates, Incheon and Jeju Island.

The confirmation of Gyeongju as the host city of next year's summit is expected to be made later this month.

APEC, consisting of 21 Asia-Pacific economies, is the premier economic forum for promoting sustainable economic growth and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region by pursuing the liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment.