SENATORS’ STATEMENTS — Canada-Korea Relations

Honourable senators, it is an honour to rise and recognize the historic significance of this week in the 138-year friendship between Canada and the Republic of Korea. I had the honour of joining Speaker Raymonde Gagné and the visiting parliamentary delegation from Korea, including national assembly members Yong Weon Yu and Sung-Kyu Maeng, my counterpart as chair of the Canada-Korea Interparliamentary Friendship Group. Also, Senators Black, MacDonald, Patterson, Ravalia, Yussuff and I discussed shared priorities for prosperity, security and partnership with our counterparts.

As chair of the Canada-Korea Interparliamentary Friendship Group, I speak with deep gratitude for a relationship grounded in service, sacrifice and enduring friendship. As we commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Korean War, we remember that Canadian courage and sacrifice became part of the foundation upon which modern Korea was able to survive, rebuild and thrive beyond all expectations.

However, the story of Canada and Korea did not begin with war. It began in 1888, when Canadian missionaries and scholars first arrived on Korean soil to stand alongside the Korean people in their struggle for independence and dignity. From those beginnings, our relationship has grown into a comprehensive, strategic partnership, spanning trade, technology, energy, innovation, defence and security cooperation across the Indo-Pacific and beyond.

Honourable senators, we now stand at the threshold of a new chapter. A pending decision regarding Canada’s next-generation submarine program represents the possibility of elevating Canadian-Korean cooperation to an entirely new level. What a truly full-circle moment for our two nations.

Seventy-five years ago, Canadians crossed the Pacific Ocean to defend Korea in its hour of need. This week, the state-of-the-art Korean submarine KSS-III crossed the Pacific in the opposite direction to Canada’s West Coast, in my home province — our home province — of British Columbia. If acquired by Canada, a submarine of this class would strengthen our sovereignty, deepen our interoperability with allies and help ensure that Canada can defend its interests for generations to come.

History is not something we simply commemorate. It is something we build on. The sacrifices of the past created the trust we share today, and that trust now gives Canada and Korea the opportunity to shape the future together.

Gamsahamnida. Thank you.