In a meeting held in South Korean capital, Seoul on Wednesday, May 17, 2023, President Yoon Suk Yeol and Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau vowed to bolster their security and economic cooperation to address challenges posed by North Korea as well as to increase Canadian supplies of minerals crucial to South Korea’s technology industry.
The meeting between the South Korea and Canada leaders precedes their trip to Japan for the weekend’s Group of Seven meetings, where geopolitical uncertainties worsened by Russia’s war on Ukraine, China’s regional assertiveness and North Korea’s nuclear ambitions are expected to be discussions.
Trudeau, the first Canadian leader to visit South Korea in nine years, arrived in Seoul on Tuesday, May 16, 2023.
Following their meeting, the leaders issued a joint statement in which they denounced North Korea’s expanding nuclear and ballistic missile programs and urged Pyongyang to resume the U.S.-led denuclearization negotiations, which have been inactive since 2019 due to differences over the use of international sanctions against the North.
Concerned about North Korea’s abuse of human rights and “the regime’s complete disregard for the well-being of its people,” they pledged that their countries would work to raise the issue’s profile internationally.
In order to combat the North Korean danger, the Canadian Prime Minister declared that his country is still committed to cooperating closely with Seoul and other international allies. He declared that his administration would endeavor to increase Canada’s naval presence and involvement in international operations to track the implementation of U.N. Security Council sanctions against North Korea.
In addition, Yoon and Trudeau stated that they would strive to improve supply chain collaboration in the areas of clean energy and essential minerals. They claimed that this would support environmentally friendly technology and increase the countries’ competitiveness on the international markets for batteries and zero-emission vehicles.
According to Yoon, the nations will also increase their collaboration in “future industries,” such as semiconductors, batteries, artificial intelligence, and technologies that produce cleaner technologies, such as those utilizing tiny modular reactors, natural gas, and hydrogen.
The Yoon administration has stated that the country’s trading links with Canada are crucial for navigating unstable international supply chains and energy markets. Canada is a major producer of gasoline, gas, and important minerals like nickel, lithium, and cobalt, which are used by South Korean companies to manufacture electric car batteries.
Trudeau Addresses Seoul’s National Assembly
Hours before his summit with Yoon, Trudeau delivered a speech to South Korean lawmakers at Seoul’s National Assembly, where he made similar comments on security and economic cooperation and responding to the North Korean threat.
Trudeau was the first foreign leader to deliver a speech at South Korea’s parliament in six years, following former U.S. President Donald Trump’s speech in 2017.
According to a statement from the Trade Ministry of South Korea, the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, which intends to lessen the U.S. reliance on China and other nations for battery supply chains, would have an impact on South Korea. However, a closer relationship with Canada over minerals will help the nation better manage this impact.
The act, which was signed into law by President Joe Biden last August, has been a source of tension between Washington and Seoul due to the fact that it excludes South Korean electric vehicles and other models assembled outside of North America from consumer tax credits.
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