The resort island city of Jeju said Monday it will bid to host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference to open in South Korea in October 2005.

The APEC meeting, divided into two days of summit talks and senior officials' conferences, is expected to bring over 10,000 people to the host city, including 7,000 government representatives and 2,000 journalists.

Hoping to be designated an international free city, Jeju has been sponsoring a number of international events to drum up support.

Officials said they will start reviewing convention and accommodation facilities to make sure the city can handle the APEC conference.

The Foreign Ministry is expected to form a committee by June to deliberate on candidate sites.

Launched in 1989 as a Cabinet ministers' meeting of the then-12 member countries, APEC has grown to become the world's largest economic cooperation body with a membership of 21 Asia-Pacific countries.