South Korea is offering a range of defense systems to Canada to bolster its military arsenal amid Ottawa’s deteriorating relations with the world’s top weapons supplier, the US.
A delegation of twelve government and industry representatives from Seoul visited Canada last week to promote domestically developed submarines, training aircraft, howitzers, and rocket launchers to Canadian officials.
In addition, South Korea offered to support Canada’s defense industry by establishing local maintenance facilities and providing full access to onboard technology — something US suppliers typically do not offer.
One of the key products being presented is the KSS-III submarine, developed by Hanwha Ocean.
Proposed to the Polish Navy in 2023, the advanced submarine features an air-independent propulsion system and is armed with six 533.4mm tubes for launching torpedoes, missiles, and bottom mines.
Hanwha Vice President Steve Jeong stated that the submarine meets all of Canada’s operational needs and could be delivered within just six years of a contract signing.
‘Same Problem’
Canada is being encouraged to diversify its defense sources to reduce reliance on a single country.
Ottawa is currently in an apparent trade war with Washington, triggered by tariffs on key goods, further straining economic relations.
Some analysts have suggested canceling key acquisitions, such as the purchase of 88 F-35 fighter jets worth 19 billion Canadian dollars ($14.2 billion), out of concerns about being too dependent on the US for future upgrades.
Jeong shared that South Korea faced a similar challenge in the past, leading to the development of a “powerful defense industry” to lessen its reliance on American systems.
“We had the same problems with the Americans. For our navy, everything depended on the Americans, but America kept raising the price. So we got upset (and) we developed on our own,” he explained.
