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President Lee Jae-myung and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney shake hands prior to their bilateral meeting at the G7 Summit venue in Évian-les-Bains, France, on June 16 (local time). / Photo courtesy of Yonhap News Agency

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung held a bilateral meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on June 16 on the occasion of the G7 Summit held in Évian, France, and discussed measures to cooperate on the defense industry and energy supply chains. With the selection of the contractor for Canada's submarine project, valued at 60 trillion KRW, drawing near, President Lee appeared to step forward at the leadership level to promote South Korea's defense competitiveness.

President Lee held the South Korea-Canada summit with Prime Minister Carney for about 20 minutes starting from around 5:50 p.m. on this day.

In his opening remarks, President Lee proposed, "As we have much to cooperate on with each other, let us discuss today how we can make that cooperation more specific."

Prime Minister Carney responded by mentioning their first meeting at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Gyeongju last year, stating, "Since then, the partnership between our two countries has continued to grow."

He continued, "South Korea and Canada have been strengthening cooperation across various fields, including defense, investment, and culture."

During the meeting, Canada's 60 trillion KRW submarine project was also indirectly addressed. The project aims to replace four Victoria-class submarines that the Royal Canadian Navy is scheduled to decommission in the mid-2030s, and South Korea and Germany are engaged in a fierce competition.

Winning the contract for the Canadian submarine project is considered an issue that could influence the landscape of the global defense market in the future. The Blue House has been putting effort into supporting the bid, including dispatching Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik, the president's special envoy for strategic economic cooperation, to Canada earlier this month.

The two leaders also shared a common understanding of the necessity for cooperation in responding to the Middle East situation and energy supply chain crises. The Blue House stated, "The two leaders agreed that cooperation for establishing stable energy supply chains between the two nations is important," adding, "They decided to expand mutually beneficial cooperation in sectors such as crude oil, LNG, and critical minerals."

It further noted, "They decided to actively leverage the respective strengths between South Korea, which possesses advanced industry capabilities, and Canada, which holds rich resources and technological prowess."

                                                                                                       Park Young-hoon