Seoul: At a summit in Seoul on Wednesday, the leaders of South Korea and Canada vowed to strengthen their economic and security ties in order to counter North Korean threats and increase Canadian supplies of minerals vital to South Korea's technology sector.
Prior to their weekend Group of Seven meetings in Japan, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met. At these meetings, geopolitical uncertainties exacerbated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, China's regional assertiveness, and North Korea's nuclear aspirations are expected to be the main topics of discussion.
Following their meeting, the leaders issued a joint statement denouncing North Korea's expanding nuclear and ballistic missile programmes and urging Pyongyang to resume denuclearization negotiations under US leadership, which have been inactive since 2019 due to differences over the use of international sanctions against the North.
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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 governments would work to raise the issue's profile internationally.
In a joint press conference with Yoon following their summit, Trudeau stated, "We will also be continuing our work to support human rights organisations" dedicated to advancing North Korean human rights.
"North Korean people are the first victims of the terrible regime in North Korea, an example of why autocracy has terrible, terrible impacts on its own people first and foremost, before (it) even destabilises and puts at risk people in neighbouring countries," he claimed.
First Canadian prime minister to visit South Korea in nine years, Trudeau reaffirmed Ottawa's commitment to collaborating closely with Seoul and other allies to counter the North Korean threat. He declared that his administration would make an effort to increase Canada's naval presence and involvement in international operations to track the implementation of UN Security Council sanctions against Pyongyang.
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In addition, Yoon and Trudeau stated that they would work to improve supply chain collaboration in the areas of clean energy and essential minerals. They claimed that this would support environmentally friendly technologies 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 utilising small modular reactors, natural gas, and hydrogen.
The government of Yoon has stated that the country's trade ties with Canada are crucial for navigating unstable international supply chains and energy markets. Canada is one of the world's top producers of fuel, petrol, and essential minerals like nickel, lithium, and cobalt, which are used by South Korean manufacturers to make electric vehicles.
In response to the US Inflation Reduction Act, which aims to lessen US reliance on China and other nations for battery supply chains, South Korea's Trade Ministry stated in a statement that a stronger partnership with Canada over minerals would enable the country to better handle its effects.
Due to the act's exclusion of South Korean electric vehicles and other models made outside of North America from consumer tax credits, tensions between Washington and Seoul have arisen since President Joe Biden signed it into law last August.
Trudeau claimed that during his meeting with Yoon, they also discussed China, which continues to be South Korea's main trading partner but is increasingly at odds with Seoul in terms of security concerns.
Seoul is upset about how Beijing and Moscow have thwarted US-led efforts at the UN Security Council to impose more stringent sanctions on North Korea after it increased missile tests since the beginning of 2022. There are also worries about how the export-reliant economy of South Korea could be harmed by the escalating US-China rivalry over trade and technology as well as the fragmentation of global supply chains.
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China is a significant economic partner for both of us, not just in the region but globally, according to Trudeau. But we must understand where we will compete economically with China and where we must oppose China on human rights and other issues.
In a speech to South Korean lawmakers at Seoul's National Assembly hours before his summit with Yoon, Trudeau made comparable remarks about fostering economic and security cooperation as well as countering North Korea's threat. After former US President Donald Trump's speech in 2017, Trudeau was the first foreign leader to address the South Korean parliament in six years.