Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik Meets Canadian Defence Procurement Minister Leading Submarine Project

Second Face-to-Face Meeting Just Nine Days After Talks in Canada

Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik will meet on the 6th with Stephen Fuhr, Secretary of State for Defence Procurement of Canada, who is visiting South Korea. This will be their second face-to-face meeting in nine days, following their talks in Canada on January 28, when Kang visited as the President's Special Envoy for Strategic Economic Cooperation with the goal of winning the 60 trillion won "Canadian Patrol Submarine Project (CPSP)."

Yonhap News Agency

In making Chief of Staff Kang's schedule public, the Office of the President said, "The Canadian submarine project is currently in a situation where there is competition between countries to win the order," and requested, "Until the government or companies present an official position, we ask that you exercise caution in your reporting so that defense exports do not face difficulties due to speculation-based or inaccurate reports."

Secretary Fuhr is the procurement policy chief in charge of Canada's next-generation submarine program. This project is a large-scale undertaking worth 60 trillion won to procure up to 12 new 3,000-ton class diesel submarines, and South Korea's Hanwha Ocean and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries are currently competing with a German company.

Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik, speaking to reporters at Incheon International Airport on his way back to Korea on January 31 after his visit to Canada, said, "We assess that our submarine technology is far superior to that of Germany, our competitor, and we are confident that we can overcome challenges through industrial cooperation with Canada going forward."

Kang added, "It is very meaningful that not only the government but also the private sector went together to demonstrate a determination to create tangible economic cooperation and economic benefits," and explained, "At the meeting where we met Prime Minister Mark Carney together with business leaders, there was active courtship toward Korea."

However, Kang further noted, "A considerable portion of our submarine technology has been transferred from Germany, and there is a perception in Canada that, together with Germany, it naturally belongs within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) security cooperation framework, so it is not easy to break through and enter a space that is currently unfilled."

In response to a question about "when the outcome might come out," Kang answered, "In the short term, it could take about six months, and in the longer term, it could take up to a year," adding, "There will also be a process in which the Canadian side visits Korea to confirm our actual commitment."