Minister Kim Jung-kwan of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources will visit Canada and the United States in succession to discuss support for winning Canada's submarine program and investment in the United States, moving to strengthen economic and industrial cooperation.
According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources on the 5th, the Minister will visit Ottawa, Canada, that day to meet Industry Minister Mélanie Joly and Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson. The Minister will ask them for interest in winning the Canadian submarine program and discuss ways to cooperate on industry and resources between the two countries.
The Minister also visited Canada in January and March to support the bid for Canada's patrol submarine project. The project aims to build up to 12 diesel submarines to replace the four Victoria-class submarines scheduled to retire in 2030 and is estimated at up to 60 trillion won. A consortium of Hanwha Ocean and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries is competing.
On the 6th in Washington, D.C., the Minister will meet with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and others to hold consultations on Korea-U.S. strategic investment. The Minister said, "During this trip to the United States, we plan to conduct concrete preliminary consultations related to strategic investment projects," and added, "We will proceed in a way that serves the national interest, including expanding our corporations' market entry and feeding benefits back into domestic industry."
The Minister emphasized, "Since the passage of the special law, the government has been steadily pushing follow-up measures such as enacting the enforcement decree and preparing for the launch of the corporation," and added, "During this trip to the United States, we plan to conduct concrete preliminary consultations related to strategic investment projects, and going forward, we will proceed in a way that serves the national interest, including expanding our corporations' market entry and feeding benefits back into domestic industry."