Doing business in South Korea

South Korea is becoming a leading global defence exporter, targeting more than CAD 31 billion in exports in 2025, and aiming to become the world’s fourth-largest defence exporter by 2027. Its focus on advanced technologies combined with recent engagement with Canadian companies signals strong potential for collaboration. Partnerships already exist between leading Korean defence firms and Canadian suppliers.

The new Canada-Republic of Korea Security and Defence Cooperation Partnership, announced in October 2025, further strengthens the foundation for Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to explore opportunities in Korea’s defence sector. This long-term framework supports cooperation in defence research and development, industrial innovation, supply chain resilience, and cyber and space security. It also includes joint exercises, participation in defence trade shows, and a new Defence Industry Cooperation Forum to encourage co-development and co-production between Canada and the Republic of Korea.

South Korea’s aerospace industry is growing rapidly, driven by strong government support, advanced defence exports, and ambitious leading space programs. The country is currently testing the KAI KF-21 (its indigenous multirole fighter jet), marking a significant milestone in domestic aircraft development. In 2023, the Korean aerospace market, including both civilian and military domains, was valued at around $15 billion. Total private sector investment in the Korean aerospace sector reached $650 million in 2023 and was projected to reach $860 million in 2024. Demonstrating its space capabilities, South Korea successfully launched satellites using its own indigenous space rocket in November 2025. The country is currently pursuing a national initiative to develop a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite communication system, aiming for 6G integration.

Sub-sectors with high business potential include:

• sensors and materials
• unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs)
• defence-related ICT solutions
• ultra-high resolution and ultra-low earth orbit satellite technologies

South Korea, a global manufacturing powerhouse in semiconductors, steel, automotive, and shipbuilding, is also among the world’s largest carbon emitters. With exports accounting for roughly 44% of GDP (projected to reach $700 billion in 2025), energy security and a rapid clean energy transition are key to sustaining Korea’s competitive edge and meeting tightening global regulatory standards.

At the same time, the government is determined to position South Korea among the world’s top three artificial intelligence (AI) powerhouses. To support this ambition, the nation is rapidly expanding giga-watt scale AI data centres across the country. This infrastructure push will significantly increase demand for clean, reliable electricity.

Under its 2050 Carbon Neutral Strategy, Korea has pledged to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. A central pillar of this plan is the target of 80% clean electricity by 2035, split between 50% renewables and 30% nuclear. This would cut CO₂ emissions from power generation by 76%. 

Renewable energy deployment in South Korea is accelerating:

• renewables shares in the power generation mix is projected to rise from 10.6% in 2024 to 32.9% by 2038
• offshore wind capacity to increase 11-fold to 4 GW by 2030, with a goal of 25 GW by 2035
• streamlined permitting and infrastructure support to enable rapid rollout
• strategic investment in energy storage systems to stabilize the grid

Sub-sectors with high business potential include: 

• offshore wind technologies
• energy storage systems (ESS) for grid modernization
• hydrogen (power-to-gas) solutions
• lithium battery recycling & advanced materials
• carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) and other zero-carbon fuels such as:
  • hydrogen
  • biogas
  • sustainable aviation fuels

South Korea’s ICT sector offers strong opportunities for Canadian companies in cybersecurity and robotics/automation. The cybersecurity market is projected to more than double from $8.3 billion in 2024 to $18.2 billion by 2030. This growth is largely driven by stricter regulations, Zero Trust adoption, and AI-powered threat monitoring under the National Cybersecurity Strategy. 

There is high demand in several areas in which Canadian firms excel, such as:

• managed detection and response
• identity solutions
• quantum-safe encryption
• compliance advisory

At the same time, Korea leads the world in robot density and is investing heavily in next-generation automation. The robotics and automation market, valued at $10.2 billion, is growing rapidly as industries deploy physical AI systems. With localization of core components still limited, Canadian companies offering advanced sensing, control systems, and AI automation technologies have a clear opportunity to integrate into Korean supply chains and co-develop next-generation solutions. Together, these trends position Korea as a high-growth market for Canadian ICT companies ready to shape the country’s digital and industrial transformation.

Sub-sectors with high business potential include:

• cybersecurity
• robotics and automation

South Korea’s life sciences sector is undergoing a major digital shift driven by the country’s rapidly super-aging population and rising chronic disease burden. These long-term demographic and health trends are driving demand for more efficient, innovative and data-driven healthcare solutions. This creates strong opportunities for Canadian companies to contribute their expertise and expand their presence in the South Korean market.

Korea’s medical device market totalled $9.85 billion in 2024 and is forecasted to reach approximately $17.4 billion by 2032, with continued reliance on high-end imports despite a surplus in mass-produced devices. Meanwhile, Korea’s broader digital health market continues to expand rapidly, enabled by nationwide 5G penetration, over 90% EMR (Electronic Medical Records) adoption, and a unified national health insurance dataset. Within this market, the AI healthcare segment is growing even faster, rising from approximately $520 million in 2023 to $9.2 billion by 2030 (CAGR 50.8%). This growth is largely driven by AI diagnostics, decision-support software, digital therapeutics (DTx), and smart hospital platforms.

Korea’s policy environment is strengthening this momentum. Through its AI Roadmap, emerging Sovereign AI program, and specialized healthcare foundation models, the government aims to integrate AI across the life sciences value chainfrom R&D to digital medical devices. This creates a long-term pathway for foreign technologies that complement domestic capabilities. Combined with full tariff elimination for Canadian medical devices under CKFTA, market conditions offer immediate commercial potential alongside deeper collaboration in data-driven health systems.

Sub-sectors with high business potential include: 

• advanced medtech and AI diagnostics
  • high-end diagnostic/therapeutic devices and AI-assisted clinical tools (for example, imaging and digital therapeutics)
• health data and AI enhancement tools
  • interoperability modules and add-on AI systems that integrate with existing hospital platforms