Carney welcomes other ‘possibilities’ with South Korea at NATO summit after passing on submarine bid

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney (L), his wife, Diana Fox Carney and Turkey's Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek review troops during a welcome ceremony at Esenboga Airport to attend the 36th NATO Heads of State and Government Summit in Ankara on July 7, 2026. Photo by ABDULLAH GUCLU /POOL/AFP via Getty Images

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ANKARA, TURKEY — Prime Minister Mark Carney was busy doing some aftercare with the South Koreans at the NATO Summit Tuesday after dumping their country’s bid to build Canada’s submarines and instead opting for a European builder.

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Carney was set to hold a formal bilateral meeting with the president of South Korea, Lee Jae Myung, on Tuesday afternoon. But a spokesperson for the prime minister said both men bumped into each other in the NATO leaders’ lounge and had an informal discussion.

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Defence Minister David McGuinty described their exchange as “very encouraging.”

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“Obviously, when you have two bidders, one bidder is going to be chosen, the other will not,” McGuinty said of the bidding process.

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German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (C) holds a model TKMS (ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems) submarine as he poses with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney (R) and Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store during a meeting on the sale of the German-Norway developed TKMS submarine to Canada on the sidelines of the 36th NATO Heads of State and Government Summit in Ankara, on July 7, 2026. Photo by MICHAEL KAPPELER /POOL/AFP via Getty Images

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McGuinty noted that Hanwha remains the second bidder in reserve, in the event that negotiations with TKMS fall apart. The negotiations are expected to conclude by the end of 2027.

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“Look, there’s a lot of co-operation possibilities here between Canada and Korea,” the defence minister told reporters. “We’re going to continue building that relationship, and that’s exactly what the prime minister mentioned (in his discussion with President Lee).”

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Later in the day, Carney held a trilateral meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. In their public remarks to the media, the three leaders praised the opportunity to work together on the proposed purchase of the 212CD TKMS submarine.

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This handout picture released by the press service of Ukraine’s Presidency on July 7, 2026 shows Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky (R) speaking with Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney on the sidelines of the 36th NATO Heads of State and Government Summit in Ankara. Photo by HANDOUT /UKRAINE PRESIDENCY/AFP via Getty

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The three men stood in front of a large mock-up of a sub and held a model of the vessel in their hands.

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“This is an extraordinarily important partnership for Canada, and I would say more broadly, obviously, for our countries,” Carney said.

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Merz praised Canada’s “bold decision” which he said brings a “new era of co-operation.”

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“This is something which is bringing the people together, which is bringing our countries together,” he said.

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Støre said all three countries could end up with a total of 26 submarines. Canada is expected to order up to 12 of them but reserves the right to order fewer.

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The Liberal government has signalled that Canada, Germany and Norway’s relationship will be much more integrated than initially anticipated. McGuinty confirmed Tuesday there will be “a high degree of interoperability” included in the plan, meaning that they could share crews, for instance, or co-operate on Arctic surveillance.

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This handout picture released by the press service of Ukraine’s Presidency on July 7, 2026 shows Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky (3L) speaking with Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney (3R) on the sidelines of the 36th NATO Heads of State and Government Summit in Ankara. Photo by HANDOUT /UKRAINE PRESIDENCY/AFP via Getty

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Carney joked that he hoped the interoperability would include Norwegian soccer superstar Erling Haaland in time for the next World Cup, which was met with laughs.