1.2 Situation in the Republic of Korea 1.2.1 A member of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development At the end of 1997, with an international economic recession and a lack of foreign exchange, the Republic of Korea faced an economic crisis and turned to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for support. The GDP per capita dropped from US$ 13 255 in 1996 to US$ 8134 in 1998. The country bounced back from the 1997 Asian financial crisis, paid back a loan from the IMF in 2001 and resumed economic growth. GDP per capita increased again to US$ 24 454 in 2012 (17).
© Reuters
This was a period of political stability in the Republic of Korea. Political power turned over peacefully every five
years. Kim Dae-jung, who was the eighth president from 1998 to 2003, won the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize for his “Sunshine Policy”, an effort to restore democracy and a policy of engagement with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (18). The Republic of Korea’s remarkable economic development led to its membership in OECD in 1996, followed by its participation in OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) in 2010. The Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness was held in Busan, Republic of Korea, in 2011. The forum culminated in the signing of the Busan Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation by ministers of developed and developing nations, emerging economies, providers of South–South cooperation and triangular cooperation (usually involving a DAC member, an emerging donor in the global South, and a beneficiary in the global South), and civil society – marking a critical turning point in development cooperation (19).
QQ On 12 December 1996, the Republic of Korea became a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Gong Ro-myung, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea (left), andJean-Claude Paye, OECD Secretary-General (right), sign the agreement.
from recipient to donor: transition of the republic of korea and support of who
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