Presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik (front) departs for Canada on Sunday as President Lee Jae Myung’s special envoy for strategic economic cooperation. (Kang’s Facebook) Seoul is intensifying joint public-private efforts behind its bid for Canada’s next-generation submarine project, with presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik traveling to Canada as a special envoy.Kang said Sunday he was leaving for Canada as President Lee Jae Myung’s special envoy for strategic economic cooperation. The delegation includes officials from the Ministry of Trade, Energy and Resource and Foreign Ministry, along with companies and industry groups in energy, resources, supply chains and advanced industries.“As this is my second visit as a special envoy in four months, I will do my utmost to achieve tangible results that can expand strategic cooperation between the two countries in the areas of energy, resources, supply chains and advanced industries,” Kang said on his Facebook post.Kang's trip follows a previous high-level South Korean delegation, also led by Kang as special envoy, for the government’s initiative to elevate South Korea into one of the world’s top four defense exporters that visited Canada in late January to advance a bid for a Canadian submarine project.Canada is in the final stages of selecting a preferred bidder for the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project, which calls for the procurement of up to 12 submarines for the Royal Canadian Navy. South Korea, represented by a consortium led by Hanwha Ocean and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, is competing against Germany’s Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems.Kang underscored the rapidly expanding scope of ties between Seoul and Ottawa.“As confirmed during the May 8 phone call between the leaders of the two countries, Korea-Canada relations are rapidly broadening across the economy, energy and advanced industries,” Kang said.“Especially as instability in the Middle East continues, we are increasingly recognizing that the two countries’ economic and industrial structures are highly complementary, and that the potential synergy for cooperation between two globally influential middle powers is enormous,” he added.In Canada, Kang is largely expected to attend the forum on Korea-Canada resource security and supply chain cooperation, where senior government officials and major Korean conglomerates will participate in discussions on energy security, critical minerals and industrial investment.The forum also underscores Seoul’s attempt to present its submarine bid not just as a defense export proposal, but as part of a broader package of long-term economic cooperation with Canada in energy security, supply chains and advanced manufacturing.The diplomatic push has unfolded alongside stepped-up military diplomacy by Seoul.In late May, South Korean Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Kim Kyung-ryul attended Cansec 2026, Canada’s largest defense and security exhibition, in Ottawa, where he held high-level talks with senior Canadian military and defense procurement officials to secure a breakthrough for the multi-billion dollar submarine project.Lee Yong-cheol, head of South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration, also attended Cansec 2026, where he met with Canadian Secretary of State for Defense Procurement Steven Fuhr.Kim and Lee attended a welcoming ceremony in Victoria, British Columbia, for the 3,000-ton Dosan Ahn Chang-ho submarine, the first South Korean submarine to cross the Pacific Ocean. The submarine arrived at Esquimalt naval base on May 23 alongside the 3,100-ton frigate Daejeon for joint Korea-Canada naval cooperation exercises.South Korea’s government and Navy have framed the Pacific crossing as a demonstration of the Korean submarine’s blue-water operational capabilities and interoperability with NATO forces — two factors Seoul believes could strengthen its position in the Canadian competition.