VICTORIA, British Columbia — Canadian defence officials and representatives from South Korea's Hanwha Ocean held substantive procurement discussions on Thursday at CFB Esquimalt, as the continued presence of two Korean submarines in the harbour transformed what began as a port visit into a high-profile sales demonstration for Ottawa's long-stalled submarine replacement programme.
The ROKS Daejeon, a KSS-III Batch I boat, and the ROKS Dosan Ahn Chang-ho, the lead vessel of South Korea's most advanced submarine class, remained docked at the Pacific Fleet base, allowing Canadian naval engineers and procurement officers to conduct walkthroughs and technical assessments unavailable through any other format. Defence Minister Bill Blair's office confirmed that senior officials from the Assistant Deputy Minister (Materiel) branch participated in the structured briefings.
South Korean defence industry officials made explicit the commercial purpose of the visit, presenting the KSS-III as purpose-built for patrol of ice-adjacent waters and capable of air-independent propulsion — a feature Canadian planners have identified as critical for operations in Arctic approaches. Hanwha Ocean executives argued the platform offered a faster delivery timeline than European competitors including Germany's TKMS and France's Naval Group, both of which are also vying for the Canadian contract.
The visit carries added political weight given the Canadian government's stated urgency around Arctic sovereignty, a priority that has intensified following American statements about Canadian territorial waters. Opposition defence critics acknowledged the Korean programme's merits while pressing the Liberal government to clarify a decision timeline, with the Conservative defence critic calling for a formal Request for Proposals to be issued before the end of 2026.
Analysts in Ottawa noted that a formal expression of interest or a narrowing of the shortlist following the Esquimalt visit would represent a significant milestone in a procurement process that has languished for over a decade. No contract announcement is expected imminently, but Thursday's discussions are widely seen as the most concrete signal yet that the KSS-III has moved to the front of Canada's consideration.