South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met prior to the Group of Seven (G7) meetings in Japan to discuss shared economic and security priorities. They emphasized the need to address challenges posed by North Korea and to enhance the supply of minerals crucial to South Korea’s technology industry.
In a joint statement, the leaders condemned North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile program and called for the country to resume denuclearization talks led by the United States. These talks have been stalled since 2019 due to disagreements over international sanctions.
During his visit to South Korea, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed his government’s commitment to collaborating closely with Seoul and other international partners to address the North Korean threat. Trudeau emphasized that Canada will enhance its naval presence and participate in multinational operations to monitor the enforcement of UN Security Council sanctions against Pyongyang.
President Yoon Suk Yeol and Trudeau also pledged to strengthen cooperation in the supply chain of clean energy and critical minerals. They highlighted that such collaboration would promote environmentally friendly technologies and enhance their competitiveness in global markets for batteries and zero-emission cars.
The South Korean government, under Yoon’s leadership, considers its trade relations with Canada as crucial for managing instabilities in global supply chains and energy markets. Canada’s significant production of fuel, gas, nickel, lithium, and cobalt positions it as a key supplier of minerals required by South Korean companies for electric car battery manufacturing.
Prior to his meeting with President Yoon Suk Yeol, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addressed the South Korean lawmakers at Seoul’s National Assembly. In his speech, Trudeau reiterated his stance on security and economic cooperation and emphasized the need to address the threat posed by North Korea. It is worth noting that Trudeau’s speech marked the first time in six years that a foreign leader delivered a speech at South Korea’s parliament, with the previous instance being former U.S. President Donald Trump’s speech in 2017.