Organizers of the APEC summit say they support Chile's decision to cancel the meeting,...as safety comes first.<br />And eyes are now on whether the event can be re-arranged... or whether this will be the first cancelled meeting in APEC's more than 30-year history.<br />Kim Min-ji explains.<br />Chile's decision to call off next month's APEC summit caught many off guard.<br />It's the first time in APEC's 31-year history that a scheduled gathering has been cancelled.<br />It was an unprecedented announcement given that the APEC summit is such a large-scale event and the fact that heads of states were to attend.<br />It also puts on hold a series of anticipated sideline meetings that world leaders were going to have.<br />In a tweet, the APEC secretariat said the forum supported Chile's decision to suspend the leaders' meetings,... adding that the safety and welfare of Chile and APEC members are the top priority.<br />Without any mention of alternatives for this year,... the tweet said Malaysia will host in 2020.<br />In the past, although incomparable in scale,... an ASEAN meeting was postponed by a month in December 2006 in the Philippines due to a natural disaster,... although there was speculation it could have been triggered by terror threats.. and anti-government protests by human rights organizations, at the time.<br />Eyes are on whether the APEC summit will be held at a later date this year... and if so, when and where.<br />Speculation has it that organizers could skip a year as it would not be easy to make the necessary security arrangements given that it involves heads of states.<br />Kim Min-ji, Arirang News.<br />
