Industry Minister Joly heads to South Korea to meet with Hanwha

Joly will visit South Korea and Japan during her five-day trip where she will meet with major companies and discuss how to attract large investments in Canada's

OTTAWA — Industry Minister Mélanie Joly is jetting off to Asia for a five-day trip to meet with major companies and discuss Ottawa’s hunger for attracting large investments into Canada’s defence-related sectors.

The meetings come as Canada looks to quickly ramp up non-U.S. exports, and will include talks with one of the two bidders on Canada’s major submarine procurement project.

Joly is meeting with officials from the Korean business conglomerate Hanwha, part of a trip lasting through Friday that includes stops in Seoul and Busan in South Korea, and later in Tokyo, Japan.

Her talks with government counterparts and industry are expected to cover a range of topics, including automotive and battery manufacturing, shipbuilding and mining.

It comes a month after Prime Minister Mark Carney sojourned to South Korea to visit a Hanwha submarine manufacturing facility, and weeks ahead of the anticipated release of Canada’s new defence industrial strategy.

Canada is searching for a supplier for up to 12 new submarines -- a major, multibillion-dollar military procurement project to replace Canada’s Victoria class subs that will retire in the next decade.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 24, 2025.

The Canadian Press