Lt. Gen. Michael Wright, commander of the Canadian Army, said in a Yonhap News Agency interview that the partnership between South Korea and Canada, forged during the Korean War, is growing stronger amid deepening military cooperation. He visited Gapyeong for the 75th anniversary of a key battle there. Troops from both nations began high-tech drills ahead of the event.
Lt. Gen. Michael Wright, commander of the Canadian Army, told Yonhap News Agency on Friday in Gapyeong, South Korea, that the partnership forged on Korean War battlefields endures and is growing stronger.
"For Canada, it's a reaffirmation of our partnership that started on the battlefields in Korea in 1950 and endures to this day and, if anything, is getting stronger," Wright said during his visit for the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Gapyeong. In April 1951, some 2,000 troops from the 27th Commonwealth Brigade of Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand fought Chinese forces for three days.
Ahead of the anniversary, troops from Canada's Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry arrived for their first high-tech drills with the South Korean Army. Over 26,000 Canadians served in the war, with 516 killed and about 1,200 wounded, according to the U.N. Command.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney agreed last year in Gyeongju to deepen defense, security and military intelligence ties. Wright noted discussions with South Korea's defense industry for Canada's largest equipment modernization in over 25 years, including Hanwha's K9 howitzers and Redback infantry fighting vehicles. "I think the future military cooperation is much stronger," he said, citing recent high-level visits in a fractured world.
