(OTTAWA) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau flew to Asia on Monday, where he will make his first official visit to South Korea and attend the G7 leaders’ summit in Japan this week.
This trip comes at a time when the world is collectively facing growing security threats and economic uncertainty amplified by climate change.
The federal government plane left Ottawa on Monday afternoon, but Mr. Trudeau was not on board. Instead, he traveled to Edmonton to meet with members of the Canadian military who are helping fight the Alberta wildfires.
Mr. Trudeau then boarded the aircraft in Anchorage, Alaska, during a refueling stop on Monday evening.
The prime minister is due to be in Seoul from Tuesday to Friday, where he will notably meet South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol. The two men had also seen each other in Ottawa last fall.
Since this recent meeting, the two countries have published their strategies for the Indo-Pacific, plans that aim to counterbalance Chinese influence by strengthening economic and military ties in the region.
While in Seoul, Trudeau is also expected to attend a dedication ceremony for the Battle of Kapyong Memorial Trail, intended to honor Canada’s contributions during the Korean War.
However, he should not visit the demilitarized zone separating North Korea and South Korea.
Afterwards, Mr. Trudeau is due to travel to the G7 leaders’ summit in Hiroshima, Japan, from Friday to Sunday.
As host of the G7 this year, Japan says it chose to hold the summit in Hiroshima to symbolize its “commitment to peace”.
This choice is symbolic, since the United States dropped the world’s first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, destroying the city and killing 140,000 people. A second bomb was dropped three days later on Nagasaki, killing another 70,000.
Leaders of the G7 countries — Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and Japan — meet each year to work together on common goals.
This year’s summit will focus on seven main agenda items, including geopolitical and global security issues, economic resilience, climate change and energy.
“I think this will be one of the most successful summits since they started in 1975,” said political science professor John Kirton, who heads the G7 research group at the University of Toronto.
“Because never before has a G7 Summit faced so many major interconnected global crises at the same time. »
As they reflect on lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, face an uncertain economic outlook and strive to avert a climate crisis, G7 leaders have no shortage of issues to tackle, said Mr Kirton.
One of Canada’s priorities will be to strengthen ties between allied countries to meet these challenges. Canada should therefore seek the cooperation of G7 members to provide continued support to Ukraine, as well as to fight climate change.
Climate Change and Security
The Liberal government has invested heavily in the transition to a green economy, arguing that promoting cleaner energy sources and technologies will bring economic prosperity to the country, while limiting the catastrophic effects of climate change.
In a statement Mr. Trudeau sent to Prof. Kirton’s group ahead of the summit, the prime minister linked the fight against climate change with security.
“The clean economy offers a unique opportunity not only to sustain 1.5 degree Celsius warming and avoid the worst impacts of climate change, but also to create and secure good middle-class jobs and grow our economies,” Trudeau wrote.
“When we reduce emissions, we can drive economic growth and build strong and reliable new supply chains that also reduce our dependence on raw materials and components from countries such as China and Russia. »
The transition to a clean economy is also expected to be a focus of Trudeau’s visit to South Korea.
In an interview with The Canadian Press, South Korea’s ambassador to Canada, Lim Woongsoon, even revealed that it would be “the priority on the agenda”.
Lim said South Korea wants to strengthen its trade ties in areas like clean fuels and critical minerals.
“Canada can be a very ideal partner for Korean companies in the manufacture of batteries and battery components for electric vehicles,” he said.
The Prime Minister’s trip comes as Canada seeks to strengthen its relationship with Japan and South Korea, which are longtime allies and trading partners.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, has also argued that the current global instability is one more reason to consolidate these ties.
“We want to be as close to Korea, Japan as (we are) Germany, France and Great Britain, that’s our goal,” said M.me Joly last December.