Building on 50 years of friendship with Gangwon

The reaffirmation of Alberta’s and Gangwon’s sister province relationship took place in a ceremonial signing between Premier Smith and Governor Kim Jin Tae of Gangwon State, Republic of Korea as part of the Governor’s official visit to the province from Sept. 21 to 25.

With this renewal, Alberta and Gangwon will strive to build on decades of co-operation by exploring opportunities to expand collaboration in health innovation and life sciences, technology and innovation, sustainable energy development, export growth, investment attraction and sport.

“This monumental occasion is not just an opportunity to look back at our shared achievements, but also to forge new, mutually beneficial ties together. Gangwon is a valuable friend and partner to our province, and through the reaffirmation of this historic agreement, we are setting the stage to ensure our deep-rooted ties continue to grow even deeper for years to come. I am excited for our continued collaboration, which will enhance trade and investment that grows our economies, secures opportunities for businesses and industries, and ensures a prosperous future for people in Alberta and Gangwon.”

“I vividly recall the news about the Gangwon-Alberta Sisterhood Agreement forged 50 years ago, and it is a great honor for me to serve as the Governor during this historical year. On the foundation of longstanding friendship and amity, Gangwon and Alberta now seek to expand their relationship into a robust economic partnership. In addition to the energy, bio-healthcare and sports that will be the part of this visit, we will continue to work closely with Alberta to facilitate substantive collaboration in other future-oriented industries as well.”

A memorandum of understanding establishing the sister province relationship between Alberta and Gangwon, Republic of Korea was originally inked on Sept. 3, 1974, and was the first ever international sister relationship for both Alberta and Gangwon.

Collaboration under this agreement has traditionally focused on education, culture and sport exchanges, but has expanded over the years to include research and business-to-business relations.

Quick facts

• Alberta and Gangwon’s sister province relationship has been a catalyst for several successes over the past five decades. For example: 
  • From 1974 to 2020, Alberta participated in numerous sports exchanges with Gangwon, including alpine and Nordic skiing, whitewater canoeing, wrestling, golf, boxing, soccer, tennis, team handball, fencing and cycling.
  • Since 1984, the University of Alberta’s Kangwon Teachers of Education Program has helped more than 600 Gangwon Province teachers hone their English language teaching skills.
  • In 2015, Alberta’s government provided support for an international research collaboration between the University of Calgary and Gangwon, with additional funding provided by Opti pharm-M & D, Inc., a Gangwon-based biomedical company. The project focused on improving early diagnosis for breast cancer by examining cancer cells and tissue samples to measure biomarker expression in real-time.
• The Republic of Korea, known informally as South Korea, is an important economic partner for Alberta.
  • Bilateral trade between Alberta and South Korea totalled about $1.3 billion in 2023.
  • Alberta’s total exports to the region in 2023 totalled $940.6 million, and consisted primarily of energy, nickel, meat, wood pulp, canola oil and cereals.
  • Several major South Korean energy companies have Canadian headquarters in Calgary, including KOGAS, Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC) and SK Eco-Engineering.
• Alberta has a strong and vibrant Korean community, with about 24,000 Albertans with ethnic or cultural origin to Korea.