Hello everyone.

Hello everyone.

Thank you, Suk Yeol.

First, I want to again thank President Yoon for his warm welcome this week. As two North Pacific nations, as partners, and as friends, it’s important for us to continue strengthening our relationship in this consequential moment for the world.

Today, President Yoon and I talked about a clean economy, international security, and other topics such as gender equality. It’s an honour for me to be here to mark the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Canada and the Republic of Korea. As I said when I addressed their national assembly this morning, our two countries share unique economic, cultural and historic ties. Our shared history has been marked by, among other things, the Korean War. Tomorrow, I’m looking forward to visiting the Kapyong Valley to pay tribute to the Canadians who fought during this war.

Canada and Korea share a deep and historic friendship. We also share dynamic ties between our people. Canada has the world’s fourth largest Korean diaspora. We welcome thousands of Korean students to our universities every year and now we want to do even more. Today, we’re announcing a new youth mobility arrangement, which will result in more work and travel opportunities for young people in Canada and Korea. This will help young Canadians and Koreans acquire international experience while strengthening the ties between our people. Another thing we share is our desire to build a cleaner and more prosperous future for our countries. It’s never been clearer that economic growth, climate action, and security and stability are all interrelated. Canada and Korea also have strong trade ties. Now, with eight years of free trade between our economies through the Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement. President Yoon and I both agree that we must continue growing these ties to create even more business opportunities on both sides of the Pacific. Today, our two countries signed an agreement on cooperation in critical minerals supply chains, the clean energy transition, and energy security. This will strengthen and secure supply chains between Canada and Korea. For Canadians, it will mean more investment, more trade, and more research and development in our country. Together, it’ll mean benefiting our workers to develop clean and reliable solutions like next-generation electric vehicles to power our net-zero future.

One of our key measures to fight climate change in Canada is pollution pricing. In 2021 at COP26, I launched the global carbon pricing challenge.

Today, I welcome President Yoon’s agreement to join the global carbon pricing challenge. Korea is the first country in Asia to join the challenge, and this demonstrates leadership on climate change and energy security in the region and around the world.

Of course, President Yoon and I also discussed security in the region and around the world. If we want to build a more prosperous future for our peoples, we must continue defending peace, human rights, and the rules-based international order. As we are both democracies, we continue to condemn Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine.

Here in the region, Canada is committed to supporting the Republic of Korea’s efforts towards a denuclearized, peaceful, and prosperous Korean peninsula. In March, Canada announced that we would extend Operation NEON until 2026, our contribution to support the implementation of UN Security Council sanctions imposed against North Korea. We will also continue our work together to help organizations supporting human rights in North Korea. Stability in the Indo-Pacific and in the North Pacific is essential to global stability. We will certainly be discussing these issues and many others together at the G7 this week in Japan. Suk Yeol, the friendship between our countries is a special friendship. This has been true for the past 60 years and it will continue to be true for years and decades to come. So together, as friends, as allies, let us continue our work to create good jobs and a more prosperous and secure future for Canadians and Koreans. Thank you again for your warm welcome. (Foreign language)