South Korea and Canada Discuss Submarine Procurement Amid AI Cooperation Talks

South Korean officials said Canada gave advance notice that it had selected Germany's TKMS as the preferred bidder for the Canadian Submarine Procurement (CPSP) program, bypassing Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean. President Lee Jae‑myung and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney met briefly on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, where they also held substantive talks on future artificial‑intelligence cooperation and broader collaboration in defence, energy and critical minerals. Korean defence officials stressed the need to strengthen the export‑support capacity of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, citing the CPSP outcome as a setback for Korea’s submarine industry.

The Korean Defence Acquisition Program Administration chief expressed regret over the result and called for greater technical advantage and localisation to win future markets.