The two countries will develop a joint stockpiling plan by the year’s end.
Canada and South Korea will work more closely together on critical minerals, agreeing among other things to develop a joint stockpiling plan by the end of 2026, the most concrete outcome of a meeting between Minister of Energy Tim Hodgson and Kang Hoon-Sik, South Korea’s Special Envoy for Strategic Economic Cooperation, in Ottawa on Tuesday. Both governments described the move as a shift toward a “fully integrated energy supply chain partnership.”
The agreement builds on an existing memorandum of understanding between the two countries and covers priority areas, including investments in strategic natural resources, joint stockpiling, and policy measures to stabilize energy supplies. The two governments also welcomed a new research collaboration on naturally occurring hydrogen between their respective geological survey agencies.
The deal reflects mounting pressure on both nations to diversify away from China’s dominance over key materials. South Korea, a high-tech manufacturing powerhouse, remains heavily reliant on Chinese imports for critical minerals, including gallium, germanium, and rare earth elements, and has been pushing to build alternative supply chains. Canada, for its part, has been aggressively courting partners to develop its natural resources, having recently mobilized nearly $9 billion in critical minerals investments through 30 international project agreements.
Beyond minerals, the partnership also deepens energy ties: South Korea plans to import at least 1.4 million tons of Canadian LNG annually for over 30 years once LNG Canada Phase II comes online in the early 2030s and has agreed to extend preferential tariff treatment to Canadian crude imports under the existing free trade agreement between the two countries.
Photo: brasil2, alexsl, paweelius via Canva, montage rawmaterials.net
