The foreign ministry convened a meeting with other ministries to check up on South Korea's preparations to chair the Asia-Pacific Economic Forum(APEC) next year.

According to the ministry on Saturday, deputy minister for economic affairs Kim Hee-sang held discussions with 22 related ministries the previous day on the APEC agenda, key tasks, plans for ministerial meetings and achievements to be made.

The APEC host country sets the agenda and key tasks for the year and holds over 200 meetings inviting ministers, high-ranking officials and affiliated agencies from 21 member nations.

APEC, which includes South Korea, the U.S., Japan, Russia, Canada, Australia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN), is the world's largest regional consultative body, accounting for 40 percent of world population and 50 percent of trade volume.

South Korea previously hosted the 2005 APEC summit in the southeastern port city of Busan.