S. Korea seeks to join OECD's aid committee

By Lee Chi-dong

SEOUL, Jan. 13 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will formally apply this week to join an OECD committee on poverty reduction in developing countries, a move to bolster Seoul's global role, a foreign ministry official said Tuesday.

"Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan plans to send a letter of intention to join the
Development Assistance Committee (DAC) sometime this week," he said.
The committee has 23 members, including the European Commission, and is the only
OECD committee of which South Korea is not yet a member. Seoul aims to join the
committee in 2010.
A team of DAC officials is expected to visit South Korea around June to review
the country's development aid policy and systems, according to the official.
South Korea, once a recipient of U.N. handouts after the 1950-53 Korean War, has
been providing official development assistance (ODA) since the late 1980s.
Its entry into DAC will enable one of Asia's largest economies to play a more
active role in international efforts to help countries in need.
"For example, we can participate in the process of setting global standards for
development aid," the official said.
South Korea has tried to expand its contributions to the world by increasing the
number of peacekeeping troops and the size of ODA.
Seoul's ODA to developing nations rose about 50 percent in 2007 from a year
earlier to US$700 million. The figure accounts for 0.07 percent of its gross
national income. Statistics for last year's ODA will be released in March or
April.
The country plans to increase the ratio to 0.15 percent by 2012 and 0.25 percent
by 2015.