The former aid recipient has turned itself into a donor country for the economic development it made in recent decades.
During the Korean War in 1950s, was one of the least developed countries in the world suffering from extreme poverty. relied on other countries to rebuild its ruin economy in the first few decades after the war. In almost half a generation, however, has achieved a remarkable level of industrialization and the economy is one of the biggest in the world.
As an emerging donor country, Korea has progressively increased the amount of the Official Development Assistance (ODA), which is a loan granted to developing countries to promote economic development and welfare. In 2008, the amount of the assistance reached more than one trillion won, proving Korea‘s efforts to contribute to the global community.
In November 2009,became the 24th member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC), aiming to better coordinate with other donor countries. The DAC is an international forum where donor governments cooperate with each other to eradicate poverty in other neighboring countries. The DAC also further aims to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, eight international development goals which include reducing extreme poverty, reducing child mortality rates, fighting disease epidemics and developing a global partnership, according to (www.wikipedia.org/).
In a forum held in March last year, the members of OECD appointed Korea as the host of the 2011 High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, the biggest international conference held every three years to discuss efforts in reducing poverty and promoting economic development. This will be the fourth conference held following Italia, and theRepublicofGhana. is the first Asian country to host a crucial international summit. Thus the government seeks to promote the slogan ‘Global Korea’ to enhance its national value.
also became this year’s chair of G-20 summit, known as the Group of 20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors. The summit, which will be held this coming November 11 to 12, assesses matters related to the international financial system by strengthening global cooperation. ’s chairmanship of the G-20 represents an opportunity to bring development issues to the global economic policy discussions. Through the role as chair of G-20,is expected to serve as a bridge between the developing and developed nations through its own experience and knowledge.
“This sends a strong message to the world thatis not only an advanced industrialized nation in terms of economic size, but a truly leading global nation with a warm heart,” said Professor Kim Eun-mee (Graduate School of International Studies), the director of the Research Institute for Development and Human Security. “The world looks uponto share not only its ODA funds, but also its know-how for achieving rapid economic development and democratization.”
