Contact between Canada and the Republic of Korea dates back to the 19th century when Canadians were some of the first Westerners to arrive on the Korean peninsula, a majority of whom were Christian missionaries, though they branched out into other fields of work.

Canadian James S. Gale (1863-1937) created the Korean-English Dictionary, which became the first and most essential tool for the scholarly study of Korea in the West, and did an independent translation of the Bible into the Korean language.

Another Canadian, Dr. Oliver R. Avison, was the personal physician to King Kojong (1852-1919) and is considered the founder of modern medical knowledge in Korea.

Dr. Frank Schofield, a British-born Canadian from Guelph, Ontario, played an important role in the liberation of Korea from the Japanese occupation.

[4] On February 12, 2021,[5] Canada and 57 other nations, including the US, UK, Australia, Germany and Sweden, jointly signed a declaration condemning the use of arbitrarily detaining people for political purposes.

Despite suggesting trade advancements in technology and resources, South Korea did not commit to a lifting of the ban on Canadian beef.

Canada continues to make significant strides in relations with Korea in many areas, including open free trade agreements.

[11][12] On March 11, 2014, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and President Park Geun-hye announced that Canada and South Korea had concluded negotiations on the Canada–Korea Free Trade Agreement.