Ambassador H.E. Eric Walsh
How did you get involved with Asian-Pacific affairs, specifically ROK?
I started in 2007 as the director for the East Asia division for foreign affairs. I did that for three years. I think that was why when the job for ambassador to Korea came up, they considered me positively for it. I don’t have an extensive background like some of my predecessors, but I really enjoyed working on Korea issues in Canada, and was really excited about the opportunity to work as ambassador here.
How has your experience been in Korea so far?
It is a big question. There’s a lot to experience here. It’s been really fascinating to live in Korea and see things from the perspective of a resident, rather than a tourist or an outsider. Seoul is by far the largest city I’ve lived in. It’s a busy place with lots of people – on the subway but also on the road, for example.
Overall it’s been very positive. I’ve been doing my best to learn the language and the culture – hopefully that will help me do my job better. We’ve got a great embassy and a great team. We have so many people on both sides of the pacific that are contributing to the relationship between the two nations.
“CANADA AND KOREA ARE VERY COMPLEMENTARY TO EACH OTHER.”
What makes Canada’s bilateral relationship with Korea special?
There are two things I’ve noticed that I think have a big impact – and perhaps haven’t been observed enough – one is that Canada and Korea are very complementary to each other. It can be the very basic things, like that Canada is a more developed democracy, while Korea is a relatively new democracy. Canada has energy and natural resources, while Korea needs energy and natural resources.
But there are so many relational things as well – so many Koreans have decided to be educated in Canada, while many Canadians are moving to Korea for work or just to experience the culture here. I think the complementary nature of the two countries is something that hasn’t been observed enough.
Another thing is that we’re both seen very positively. Korea – whether it’s through culture or the positive role it plays as such a quickly developing country. It went from an aid-receiving nation to a donor country. Or Canada with no history of foreign colonialism, seen very positively a nation that cares about the environment, the future, and peacekeeping – those are things that are very easy to work with. That’s why when these two countries come together, we can get a hearing. We can be seen as being a positive contribution as opposed to being self-serving, just being there for our own national interest.
“BY 2032, … 99.75% OF CANADIAN GOODS WILL ENTER KOREA TARIFF-FREE.”
Could you tell us about the Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement?
Well, the most detailed explanation would be up there online, but in brief it’s a very good agreement. It’s Canada’s first with an Asia-Pacific country, so from our perspective it’s a significant indicator of our interest in that region. It is very comprehensive, so by 2032, which is when the last tariffs will end, 99.75% of Canadian goods will enter Korea tariff-free. Already by January of this year we are up to 93% being totally tariff-free and other ones are going down bit by bit.
It’s been very positive in a few areas, especially agriculture. It allowed us to bring a lot more products tariff-free, for example beef and pork. We’ve had very good success with lobster. We’ve had some good success on some other areas as well – natural resources such as aluminum for example.
Overall, it’s a very good signal of our good relationship – if you sign a free trade agreement with that country, it means we trust each other. It also allowed us to advance our relationship through strategic partnership, the science and technology agreement, and just today, our trade minister arrived to discuss how we can work together on things like investment, forestry, women in business, all kinds of things. It’s very exciting.
“EVERY KOREAN GROWS UP LEARNING ABOUT KOREAN WAR AND CANADA’S ROLE IN THAT.”
The Korean War is often referred to as the Forgotten War. What is the legacy of Canada’s contribution during that war for today’s generation of Canadians?
It’s the Forgotten War because it came right after World War II. It was a war of an overwhelming scale, bigger than anything anyone could have foreseen. That’s why the Korean War, though it was bigger than anything following World War II, was smaller compared to the world war itself. That’s why it’s been in the shadows a bit. But I think the biggest message I can give to Canadians regarding the Korean War is that it was a time when Canada did the right thing.
There was an invasion, the UN Security Council declared it a violation and called all its member states to send troops to assist Korea. And Canada answered the call. We didn’t just answer it but in fact sent the third biggest contribution of troops over the course of the war – right behind the US and UK. Over 500 Canadians were killed here. And it wasn’t because Canada was looking to expand its territory, or because it wanted to establish a trade presence, or any other issue of national interest. It was because Canada had a stake – as it still does today – in international security. It wasn’t that we had a strong interest in the Republic of Korea. At the time, there was a very small Korean presence in Canada. Many people didn’t know much about Korea or perhaps didn’t even know where Korea was. But it gave the relationship between these two countries a great start.
Today, the fact that Canada was one of the countries that assisted Korea during that time is very well known. Every Korean grows up learning about the Korean War and Canada’s role in that, along with all the other nations that also contributed in the same way. I think that contributes to a positive image of Canadians in Korea up to this day, and also contributed in a big way to the success of the Korean community in Canada. Many Koreans began making Canada their home from the 60s, around right after the war, and we have gone from nearly a zero presence to 200,000 Canadian residents of Korean origin. With students and other visitors to add to that category, we can trace the beginning of this significant community to the Korean War.
Certainly there were other Canadians in Korea before that – missionaries such Frank W. Schofield, or Oliver R. Avison at Yonsei, as well as many others who served. But it was the Korean War that really started to spread Korea into public consciousness across Canada for the first time.
Nowadays, of course, veterans come back a few times a year; we give out scholarships to students at Gapyeong; it’s a point of pride for Korean businesses back in Canada to be able to raise funds towards things such as these. It’s a great continuance of this relationship.
“WHENEVER A CANADIAN SEES A BUNCH OF FROZEN ICE ANYWHERE, THEY HAVE TO ORGANIZE A HOCKEY GAME!”
What has been your role for the Imjin Classic Recreation Game?
When I first heard about this idea from Senator Martin, about recreating the hockey game over the actual Imjin River, I instantly saw the potential for what this could mean. By talking with the city of Paju, the Olympic organizing committee, businesses that could be interested in potential sponsorships, Canadian veterans, Veteran Affairs, the Canadian Defence Ministry, basically everyone we can about the idea – I was amazed that every single person we talked to shared our vision and enthusiasm for the possibilities of this event.
We’ve got – right before the Olympics – an event commemorating the history of hockey in the country, the role of security of peace that Canadians played here, and perhaps the stereotype that whenever a Canadian sees a bunch of frozen ice anywhere, they have to organize a hockey game! By bringing this all together, it’s been a wonderful experience. Our role is basically to try to make it happen, and we’ve been doing everything we can to make it possible. So far it’s been going very well. We have the notional dates, a lot of people have expressed interest; I even spoke with the presidents of Yonsei and Korea University. Both presidents are interested in participating in the event with their respective hockey teams. It goes back to the first-ever recorded hockey game in Korean history – 1928, between those two universities. You don’t think about hockey in Korea being so historic.
Another fantastic thing – though this doesn’t have anything to do with the embassy – is that so many Canadians are involved in the Korean ice hockey program. The coaches of the men’s and women’s teams are both Canadians. We even had some Canadians who are now dual citizens playing on the Korean hockey teams. In fact, the Korean men’s team just recently qualified for the top group in the world. Sweden beat Canada this year for the world championships; next year, Korea will be right up there competing with both Sweden and Canada. That’s an amazing result.
So I’m really excited about the possibilities to make [the Imjin Classic Recreation Game] a great event. It commemorates so many positives of the Canada-Korea relationship: hockey, Olympics, peace, youth, the future. I think it’ll be fantastic.
“150th ANNIVERSARY OF WHAT? WAS IT A REVOLUTION? LIKE, WHAT DID YOU GUYS DO?”
We have been involved with working with the Canadian Olympic Committee and different sports federations in Canada to help them with their visits here to see the venues – helping them with the logistical arrangements they have to make. My actual role during the Olympics will be very minor. Just making sure that through our consular section Canadians don’t run into trouble. Maybe doing some social media events during that time with Canadian athletes if we can. But it will definitely be a very busy time for everybody – very high stress on the athletes. If we do get a visitor, like the prime minister or governor general, during the Olympics, we will obviously be involved with that too. But it’s little bit early to know about that.
Canada is celebrating the 150th anniversary of Confederation in July. Do you have any remarks?
I think all ambassadors around the world are active in promoting the 150th anniversary of the Confederation. We wear this pin everywhere. It’s only going to happen once. 150 is a very big round number. So we are very excited about it.
We have a lot of events that we are engaged in this year that promote Canada in Korea. We think it is a great opportunity. It’s not very old, but some people don’t realize that Canada is that old.
[People would ask,] “150th anniversary of what? Was it a revolution? Like, what did you guys do?” So it gives them the opportunity to talk about Canada’s history and our Confederation. Which is also interesting in the Korean context where democracy has also been evolving. Just recently, the election after the constitutional issues which was very interesting as well.
We have been very active. We were the country of honour at the Busan International Short Film Festival earlier this year. We will be the spotlight country at the Seoul International Book Fair later this month. We will have several Canadian naval ships visiting Korea on July 1st. So we will have a reception on board which will be great.
We got an essay contest. Air Canada generously contributed a round trip ticket to Canada to the winner. The essay contest question is great: “What does 150 mean to you?” It could be anything with the number 150. So, we will be judging that shortly.
“WHAT’S BEHIND THE DOOR? WHAT DON’T I KNOW ABOUT MY OWN CITY?”
[This year,] the national parks in Canada are free. That’s very attractive to Koreans. Koreans love hiking. They love to walk around. There are lots of places to hike in Korea, but Canada’s just full of places where you can be on your own. I have been told, if you go to the downtown of the old town in Quebec City, there is a red door where Gong Yoo (공유, a Korean actor) comes out of. There is like a permanent gathering of Koreans with cameras taking pictures of themselves in front of the door. But the residents of Quebec City, of course, most of them have never seen Dogaebi (도깨비; Goblin, a Korean drama) because it is in Korean. They haven’t watched the whole thing. So they walk by, and see this group of people. “What’s behind the door? What don’t I know about my own city?”
So again that’s another example of how things have changed. It used to be Canadians watching TV and travel around the world and visit the places we saw on TV. Now Koreans are doing that in Canada in places where Canadians do not know about. It’s such a neat reversal of people’s expectations.
What I am very excited about is, we are able to use the combination of the Olympics and the 150 to do some things that normally would be too much to hope for. Do you know the TV show, “Kim’s Convenience”? They are bringing the play to Korea. And it’s going to be in Korean at the Korean Overseas Theatres Festival in July. Normally, overseas theatre in Korea is not in Korean – a story from overseas. But having the story about Korean expats in Canada would be very interesting to see how that plays back here.
“IT’S GOING TO BE THE FIRST TIME TO BE SHOWN IN THE KOREAN LANGUAGE.”
Ambassador Eric Walsh (left), Public Affairs Officer Jean Ko (right)
I had a chance to meet with Ins Choi a couple times – really really interesting guy. He would love to come over here with the English version, love to bring a big version, and love to bring the actors over. We even talked about whether we could even do something maybe in a context of a cultural program that goes along with the Olympics. So anyway, we don’t want to go ahead of ourselves. But it’s definitely on July 13th to the 23rd. There’s going to be a whole run of that here. It’s going to be the first time to be shown in the Korean language. So it’s going to be interesting to see how that plays for the Korean audience, a story about convenience store owners in Toronto in the Korean language. I think it’s going to be neat. I am looking forward to that very much.
The other thing is, I am unilaterally extending Canada 150 through the end of Paralympic Games. It’s too good an opportunity to ignore. So up until March next year, we will continue on the theme of 150. It’s a lot of fun. Some of the stuff I work on with Jean, and some of the work I have with the embassy, it really feels like you are contributing to the people, to people relations. Obviously there are embassy official stuff to do, lots of government stuff to do, lots of trade stuff to do. That’s why we are here, basically. But when you get a chance to contribute to some of the things that people get excited about, whether it’s the Imjin Games, Kim’s Convenience or the essay writing contest, you really feel like you are contributing to the big picture relationship.
“IT REALLY FEELS LIKE YOU ARE CONTRIBUTING TO THE PEOPLE, TO PEOPLE RELATIONS.”
“IT REALLY FEELS LIKE YOU ARE CONTRIBUTING TO THE PEOPLE, TO PEOPLE RELATIONS.”
Could you briefly share about the recent homeland trip of Korean-Canadian adoptees?
I wasn’t really involved in it. I was told that they were coming. We went back and forth to find a time when I could see them. Unfortunately, it was a short interaction. But I did take them to the National Assembly for a tour with the vice speaker. It was really neat because we have another great Canada-Korea connection. We have all these very diverse families with different backgrounds who are united on this tour. It’s really nice that the Korean side organized this to tie Korean adoptees with their maternal birth culture.
But at the same time, the kids were totally Canadians, acting like any other Canadian would act. In some cases, they knew more about Korean culture because the adopted parents had encouraged that. Other cases may have known less about Korean culture because it wasn’t as important in their adopted families. We got to take some pictures, and I got to meet some of them.
We were talking. I don’t know if it will ever work out. But one of the parents was a youth hockey organizer. He was interested in bringing an adoptee hockey team to Korea to play some games. So I put him in touch with other people, but Yonah knows who we are also talking about with regards to youth hockey in the Imjin river commemoration. I don’t know if it will work out or not. If they could get an event and try, it will happen. But because they all will need to fly across the Pacific, they may need to have some level of sponsorship to make it happen. But it was really neat to meet everyone. I wish I could have spent more time with them.
Thank you so much for your time today for the interview.
My great pleasure. It was a lot of fun. I am very happy to participate in this program, very honoured actually. You know, Canada-Korea relations is what I do for living, but I am also keen on being part of [this relationship] not only during my assignment but also after my assignment. Hopefully this will help get my story out to a large number of people.
By David Warburton, Julia Park and Caleb Park