1. The Foreign Ministry hosted the first Bilateral Arctic Consultation between the Republic of Korea and Canada at the Ministry, Seoul, on November 8. The ROK and Canadian head delegates to the Consultation were Representative for Arctic Cooperation Kim Young-jun and Senior Arctic Official (SAO) Alison LeClaire, respectively.

2. The Bilateral Arctic Consultation came as part of the ROK and Canadian efforts to step up substantive bilateral cooperation since the establishment of “strategic partnership” in 2014. It is seen to have served as an opportunity to affirm the shared view that the two sides will discuss Arctic cooperation in a comprehensive way toward its qualitative improvement.

° In particular, the ROK has pursued active Arctic cooperation, mainly on Arctic research, with Canada, one of the member states of the Arctic Council and the former country’s highly important partner for Arctic cooperation, after the leaders of the two countries agreed, in Seoul in March 2014 and again in Ottawa in September 2014, to seek cooperation in the field.

3. The Bilateral Arctic Consultation covered various matters regarding Arctic cooperation, including overviews of the two countries’ respective Arctic policies; scientific cooperation; Arctic routes for maritime transport; fisheries; tourism; and ways to work together on the Arctic Council.

° The two countries agreed to explore a regular biennial Bilateral Arctic Consultation, with the next round in Canada in 2019.

° The two countries also noted with appreciation that at the ROK-Canada Arctic symposium held on November 7 on the sidelines of the Bilateral Arctic Consultation, they had paved the way for not only the government-led track-1 cooperation but also track-2 cooperation among industries, academias and think tanks of the two countries.

※ The ROK-Canada Arctic symposium took place at the Canadian Embassy in the ROK on November 7, co-hosted by the Korea Arctic Research Consortium (KoARC) and the Canadian Embassy in the ROK. It mainly covered Arctic policies of the two countries; indigenous communities in the Arctic and an anthropological approach; and research cooperation.

4. The ROK government holds bilateral Arctic consultations with major countries in the Arctic region to seek out possible areas for Arctic cooperation. It will hold such meetings in 2017 with Russia in Seoul on November 29; with Finland in Seoul on December 11; and with Norway in Busan on December 13.

° In a related move, the ROK Foreign Ministry, together with the Arctic Economic Council (AEC), which is composed of private entrepreneurs of Arctic countries, will hold “an ROK- AEC cooperation seminar” in Seoul on December 11.


* unofficial translation