열린장관실

Good evening everyone.

Ms. Tamara Mawhinney, Chargée d’Affaires.

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my great privilege to be part of this special evening.

I wish to start by thanking Team Canada for organizing this meaningful event.

We are gathered to celebrate 60 years of official diplomatic relations between the Republic Korea and Canada.

Indeed, our partnership has come a very long way since January 14th, 1963.

But it is also worthwhile to look further back.

For ours is a friendship that dates back to the 19th century.

The first Canadians in Korea, mostly missionaries,

contributed greatly to modernizing Korea’s education and public health.

Some have left profound legacies in promoting freedom.

Dr. Frank Schofield(스코필드) is one such figure.

Dr. Schofield first came to Korea as a missionary veterinarian.  It was his documentation that brought the March Independence Movement to the attention of the world.  

He became the first foreigner to be honored with a burial at Seoul National Cemetery.

Our bonds were further strengthened during the Korean War.

More than 26,000 young Canadian men and women fought shoulder-to-shoulder with us.

Our shared commitment to freedom, democracy, market economy, and human rights was forged on the battlefield.

(Notre engagement commun pour la liberté, la démocratie, l’économie de marché et les droits de l’homme a été forgé sur le champs de bataille.)

This has laid a solid foundation on which our bilateral ties flourished in the decades that followed.

(Cela est devenu une base solide de nos liens bilatéraux, qui ne cessent de prospérer depuis.)

In the face of the grave threat posed by North Korea and its destabilizing actions, Canada has always been a trusted partner for peace and security on the Korean Peninsula.

(Face à la menace grave de la Corée du Nord et ses actions déstabilisatrices, le Canada a toujours été un partenaire de confiance pour la paix et la sécurité de la péninsule coréenne.)

On the economic front, our ties continue to expand in both depth and scope.

The Korea-Canada FTA represents Canada’s first and only bilateral free-trade agreement in the Indo-Pacific.

Thanks to this agreement, more Koreans can stay warm in their Canada Goose outerwear and savor scrumptious icewine.

More and more Canadians are driving a Hyundai Kona – an electric vehicle which became one of Canada’s best-selling cars of 2022.  

This close partnership is supported by perhaps the most important tie of all: people-to-people exchanges.

Canada has the fourth largest Korean expat community – close to a quarter million.  

In addition, two-way tourism and educational exchanges have grown significantly, reaching more than 414 thousand visits before the pandemic.

Many young Koreans visit Quebec City to see the filming location of the famous Korean TV show, 도깨비.

A Canadian sit-com, Kim’s Convenience, is one of my favorites – although they may have overdone the Korean accent a bit.  

K-pop music is also hugely popular among young Canadians.

How else can one explain the news of BTS’s Jin starting his military service making top headlines on CBC(Canadian Broadcasting Corporation)?

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Building on all that we have achieved over the past 60 years, Korea and Canada are opening a critical new chapter in our bilateral relationship.

(Basés sur tout ce que nous avons accompli au cours des soixante dernières années, la Corée et le Canada sont en train d’ouvrir un nouveau chapitre, crucial pour nos relations bilatérales.)

We do so to better navigate an increasingly turbulent world.

(Cela est pour mieux naviguer dans un monde de plus en plus turbulent.)

The rules-based international order is under threat

Supply chains are being disrupted.

Extreme weather events are increasingly the norm.

Global pandemics are impacting the daily lives of billions.

(L’ordre international fondé sur des règles est menacé. Les chaînes d’approvisionnement sont perturbées. Les phénomènes météorologiques extrêmes deviennent de plus en plus la norme. Les pandémies mondiales ont un impact sur la vie quotidienne de milliards de personnes.)

These are shared challenges that can only be addressed when countries work together.

As like-minded countries, Korea and Canada are optimal partners in tackling these challenges.

This is why President Yoon Suk Yeol and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau committed to upgrade our bilateral ties to a “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership” last September in Ottawa.

This is why President Yoon chose Canada as the destination for his first bilateral visit abroad.

The Joint Leaders’ Statement captures our Leaders’ resolve to expand the depth and scope of our cooperation: not only to

promote peace and stability on the Peninsula, but also to strengthen our economic security.

As advanced economies, Korea and Canada will push the envelope of our partnership into the realm of cutting-edge technology.  

Supply chains, critical minerals and emerging technologies like AI and EVs, civil nuclear energy – these are areas of cooperation that will help strengthen our competitive edge.

Our Leaders also laid out a shared vision to promote freedom, peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.

Seoul and Ottawa both unveiled our respective Indo-Pacific strategies last year.  

(Séoul et Ottawa ont dévoilé leurs stratégies indo-pacifiques respectives l’année dernière.)

Korea’s Indo-Pacific strategy provides a roadmap for stepping up our proactive engagement beyond the Korean Peninsula.

It provides a blueprint for strengthening our partnerships to uphold the rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific.

(La stratégie de la Corée est une feuille de route visant à intensifier son engagement proactif au-delà de la péninsule coréenne. Pour nous, elle constitue un plan directeur pour le renforcement de nos partenariats afin de défendre l’ordre fondé sur des règles dans cette région.)

Right after Korea announced the strategy,

Foreign Minister Melanie Joly immediately tweeted that our approaches are aligned and complementary.

(Juste après l’annonce de la stratégie coréenne, la ministre des Affaires étrangères, l’honorable Mélanie Joly, a immédiatement tweeté que nos approches son alignées et complémentaires.)

I couldn’t agree more.

As key players in the North Pacific with shared values, we look forward to working with Canada to implementing this strategy on a whole range of issues from climate change to maritime security.

Canada is the first country with which Korea has had reciprocal foreign ministerial visits under the Yoon Seok Yul administration.

This fact alone speaks volumes about the promising future that awaits our partnership.  

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Once again, congratulations on the 60th anniversary of our diplomatic relations.

(Je voudrais terminer en félicitant une fois de plus le soixantième anniversaire de nos relations diplomatiques.)

I express my best wishes for a long-lasting friendship and cooperation between our two countries.  As stated in the Joint Leaders’ Statement, we are indeed Stronger Together.

(Je souhaite que l’amitié et la coopération entre nos deux pays soient durables. Comme l’indique la déclaration des dirigeants, « notre union fera notre force.»)

Thank you. Merci.