Middle powers Canada, South Korea set Arctic course between China-Russia and US

Canada’s defence agreement with South Korea signals the two countries’ “middle-power answer” to increasing cooperation between Beijing and Moscow in the Arctic region and Washington’s pressure on its allies for defence burden sharing, analysts said.

The agreement, signed on February 25 as part of a 2+2 foreign and defence ministerial meeting, followed the Security and Defence Cooperation Partnership (SDCP) established by the two countries in October.

According to a joint statement issued after the February meeting, Seoul and Ottawa committed to “expanding and strengthening our security and defence cooperation to address evolving traditional and emerging threats”.

“[The agreement] will strengthen our mutual engagement through support for cooperative defence relationships and the expansion of markets, and by enhancing industry competitiveness for defence contractors in both countries,” it said.

“We will enhance operational cooperation through expanded bilateral and multilateral exercises [and] advance our shared priorities in the area of maritime security and defending the rules-based maritime system.”

The Canada-South Korea agreement was signed on February 25 as part of a 2+2 meeting between the two countries’ foreign and defence ministries. Photo: EPA

The two countries also agreed to start negotiations on a defence cooperation agreement to improve interoperability and “cooperative activities” between their militaries, the statement said.

South China Morning Post