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| ▲ South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun (L, front row) and Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back (L, back row), Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand (R, front row) and Defense Minister David McGuinty participate in the signing of a security pact in Ottawa, Ontario on Feb. 25, 2026, in this photo released by the Associated Press and the Canadian Press. (Yonhap) |
S Korea-Canada-submarine
S. Korea stresses its submarine production capabilities; Canada pledges 'fair' procurement process
By Song Sang-ho
WASHINGTON, Feb. 25 (Yonhap) -- Top South Korean officials on Wednesday highlighted the Asian country's "cutting-edge" technologies and capabilities to deliver submarines "on time" and "on budget" as their Canadian counterparts pledged to have a "fair" process for its high-profile project to procure next-generation submarines.
Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back joined their Canadian counterparts, Anita Anand and David McGuinty, for their "two-plus-two" meeting in Ottawa, amid Seoul's stepped-up push to secure the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project, estimated at around 60 trillion won (US$41 billion).
Canada has been pushing for the project to procure up to 12 submarines for patrol missions. A South Korean consortium of Hanwha Ocean and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. and Germany's ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems are in the high-stakes competition.
"We will deliver on time and within the budget. We did appeal to our Canadian friends in that aspect. We will be able to deliver two years ahead of Germany, and we did talk about many benefits that we could bring to Canada with our submarines," Cho said during a joint press conference through an English-language interpreter.
"Second, if we are able to get this deal, then we would be able to create 200,000 jobs over 15 years. This is not just a simple investment. This is job creation and also technological transfer as well."
Ahn underscored the advanced technologies that South Korea has harnessed to produce submarines capable of maneuvering in challenging underwater conditions in the face of advancing North Korean threats.
"I am pretty sure that we have cutting-edge technologies compared to the other countries that we are competing with ... especially the price, the force employment, interoperability," he said through an interpreter.
"Our conventional submarines are employed in these kinds of circumstances (surrounding the Korean Peninsula), and I am pretty sure that these conventional submarines could be the utmost force in the Arctic region."
Portraying the submarine project as likely the "largest" defense procurement initiative in Canada's history, McGuinty underscored Ottawa's "professionalized" procurement system, while noting Canada has a new agency with a mandate to exclusively pursue negotiations on the procurement.
"Neither Minister Anand and I are in a position to talk about the merits of the specifics of one bid over another. We want to make sure this is arm's length and objective," he said.
"The good news is this is why we stood up under our new government a whole new process to do this fairly and objectively and responsibly."
As Seoul seeks to clinch the project, Cho pointed out the need for the two countries to strengthen security collaboration in the midst of "geopolitical uncertainties."
"Korea and Canada will continue to engage in strategic communications, and we need to engage in deeper cooperation in terms of defense and security," he said.
The ministers' talks this week yielded three main security outcomes.
They committed to updating the South Korea-Canada comprehensive strategic partnership to reflect the current evolving security and economic realities, while agreeing to begin negotiations toward a defense cooperation agreement to deepen operational collaboration between the countries' armed forces.
The two sides also signed an agreement on the protection of military and defense classified information, which will establish a secure framework for the exchange of sensitive information between the two countries.
"Canada and the Republic of Korea will continue to work together and to promote regional stability, reinforcing a free, open and secure Indo-Pacific region," Anand said.
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