Adedokun Waliyu 
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau agreed on Wednesday to enhance cooperation on critical minerals and continue joint efforts to fend off North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.
Trudeau arrived in Seoul on Tuesday in the first visit in nine years by a Canadian leader as the two countries explore ways to expand security ties, while navigating a rivalry between the United States and China.
After a summit, the leaders signed a memorandum of understanding on critical mineral supply chains, the clean energy transition and energy security, which they said would help position the countries as “globally competitive players in areas including batteries and zero-emission vehicles.”
“This will support the development of clean technologies that will power green and sustainable economic growth,” they said in a joint statement issued after their meeting.
Canada has many of the critical minerals – like lithium, cobalt and nickel – that are now used to make batteries for electric vehicles (EVs), and the government is in the process of seeking to help producers and processors scale up production.
The agreement to further cooperate on clean energy minerals will help South Korea diversify sourcing of minerals and better cope with the U.S. inflation reduction act (IRA), the South Korean industry ministry said in a separate statement.
The IRA requires 40% of the value of EV battery components to be sourced from the United States or a free trade partner like Canada for a $3,750 credit for electric vehicles.
China currently dominates the market for critical minerals for electric vehicle batteries, central to developed nation goals to decarbonize, and Russia is also a major player.
