The Korean government and Korean companies are making an all-out effort to win the KRW 60 trillion “Canadian Patrol Submarine Project (CPSP).” They are seeking to strengthen their bidding competitiveness by placing full emphasis on cooperation with local Canadian industries.

The Korea Economic Association announced that it dispatched an economic delegation and, on the 26th (local time), jointly held the “3rd Korea–Canada CEO Dialogue” with the Business Council of Canada (BCC) at the Park Hyatt Toronto. The dialogue was attended by approximately 30 participants, including Kang Hoon-sik, Chief of Presidential Staff, visiting Canada as a special envoy of the President; Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Kim Jeong-kwan; government officials from both Korea and Canada; and leading business figures from the two countries.

At the “Korea–Canada Industrial Cooperation Forum” held the same day, a total of six memoranda of understanding (MOUs) were signed between companies from both countries in key industrial sectors. Hanwha Group affiliates concluded five MOUs in the fields of steel, low Earth orbit satellites, artificial intelligence (AI), and advanced sensors, while POSCO International signed one MOU in the steel sector. The agreements concretized an industrial cooperation model that meets the Canadian government’s emphasis on local industrial participation and Industrial and Technological Benefits (ITB) offset requirements.

Hanwha Ocean signed an MOU with Algoma Steel, Canada’s largest steel producer, to support the submarine project and agreed to cooperate on building a local steel plant and establishing a steel supply system for use in submarine construction and maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO). For this purpose, it will contribute approximately CAD 345 million (about KRW 363.6 billion). In addition, Hanwha Ocean and Hanwha Systems signed a trilateral MOU with Canadian AI company Cohere to jointly develop specialized AI technologies, based on large language models (LLM) and large multimodal models (LMM), that will be applied to shipbuilding production, design and manufacturing, as well as submarine operation.

They will also cooperate in the space and satellite sector. Hanwha Systems signed an MOU with Canadian satellite communications company Telesat for cooperation on low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite communications and will work to build a next-generation LEO satellite communication network. It also signed MOUs with Canadian space company MDA Space and electro-optics company PV Labs for cooperation in the defense and security sectors.

HD Hyundai, which has formed a “one-team” partnership with Hanwha Ocean, also proposed a “large-scale package deal” worth several trillion won. Specifically, in the shipbuilding sector, it plans to transfer technology and construction know-how to local shipyards and provide comprehensive consulting to strengthen submarine MRO capabilities. In addition, it is pursuing joint advanced research and development (R&D) in AI, biotechnology and other cutting-edge areas with major Canadian universities and research institutes, while in the energy sector it has drawn up an exceptional plan to import Canadian crude oil worth several trillion won over the project period through HD Hyundai Oilbank.

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