EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

South Korea is a country with a rapidly growing advanced economy in Asia. However, due to the COVID-19 effect, South Korea’s economy has been adversely affected, which is why the country faced a negative growth rate of -3.4 % as of 2020. The economy grew by 4% in 2021 due to a strong recovery in consumption from both public and private sectors. Success in COVID-19 containment, mass vaccinations, eased mobility restrictions, and labor market recovery had bolstered private consumption (ADB, 2023). However, its GDP growth declined to 2.56% in 2022 and is further projected to decline to 1.3% of its GDP for 2023 due to its sluggish exports and investment (Times Korean, 2023).

South Korea currently has the 11th largest economy in the world. It is the country with 4th largest economy in Asia and is also a key contributor to the International Development Association (IDA), a fund, established by the World Bank that supports the poorest countries (Sigdel, 2020). In 2022, Korea ranked 16 out of 30 OECD Development Assistance Committee country members on aid volume (Hill, 2023).

Keywords: ODA (Official Development Assistance), South Korea, and the Global South.

South Korea’s  Aid Policy and Official Development Assistance to the Global South: Issues and Way Forward

Dr. Bama Dev Sigdel - People's Campus in Kathmandu

APAC Report · August 2024

TURKISH CENTER  for ASIA PACIFIC STUDIES