Canada, South Korea expand defense industry collaboration, eye joint security initiatives

Felix Kim

Canada and South Korea are advancing defense cooperation in line with their comprehensive strategic partnership and shared security concerns in the Indo-Pacific.

During his September 2024 visit to Seoul, Canadian Defence Minister Bill Blair reaffirmed his nation’s long-standing commitment to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. He noted that since the 1950-53 Korean War, in which more than 26,000 Canadians served, Canada is among the few countries to have maintained an uninterrupted presence there.

“Canada is committed to strengthening its close relationship with the ROK [Republic of Korea], including by enhancing defence partnerships, to maintain security on the Korean Peninsula and uphold the rules-based international order,” the Defence Ministry stated, referring to South Korea by its formal name. “Canada now deploys three warships per year to the Indo-Pacific region, enabling the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) to conduct more activities and exercises with regional partners, including the ROK.”

Blair and South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun discussed deepening engagement, with an emphasis on defense industry cooperation. Kim praised Canada for implementing sanctions against North Korea and for participating in related United Nations activities in the face of Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile threats, the ROK’s Defense Ministry stated.

He also emphasized potential partnerships involving South Korea’s defense industry, particularly related to next-generation submarines. Ottawa recently announced plans to acquire up to 12 conventionally powered submarines as part of naval upgrades.

The ministers highlighted the recent agreement to initiate a high-level defense and foreign policy dialogue, as well as bilateral Army staff discussions.

South Korea is Canada’s seventh-leading trading partner, and the nations signed their comprehensive strategic partnership in 2022. Seoul’s participation in Canada’s forces enhancement project, meanwhile, “goes beyond simple defense industry cooperation and will contribute to the development of the comprehensive strategic partnership between Korea and Canada,” the ROK’s Defense Ministry stated.

In recent years, the nations have signed agreements on military supply chain management, defense research and development, defense procurement, and cooperation in critical mineral supply chains.

Under their strategic partnership implementation plan, the countries will “advance shared defense priorities through bilateral and multilateral initiatives, in the Indo-Pacific and around the world,” according to Canada’s Defence Ministry.

Those priorities include security cooperation related to illegal fishing and piracy; North Korea’s evasion of sanctions; and nontraditional threats posed by climate change, health and food security, and cyber and other emerging disruptive technologies.

The plan also calls for leveraging a June 2024 agreement on cooperative development of airborne anti-submarine warfare capabilities.

Felix Kim is a FORUM contributor reporting from Seoul, South Korea.