[4th] Critical Review on Korea’s Aid to Education: Current Status and Challenges “Offering educational help in conflict zones or vulnerable countries is a must if children are to have hopes and dreams” President Park Geun-hye of the Republic of Korea, at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, 2014 [Date of publication] May 18, 2015 [Publisher] Thematic Working Group on Education of KoFID
General Aid Trends
1)
Since the 2012 4th Busan High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (HLF-4), the Republic of Korea, a relative newcomer to the global aid scene, has received considerable international attention. Rightly so, as Korea’s aid has experienced a steady increase from 0.05% of its gross national income (GNI) in
[Author] HONG, Moon Suk Director, Office of Development Research and Evaluation, Re-shaping Development Institute (ReDI),
2006 to 0.13% of GNI in 2014, while major donors have been decreasing the volume of their aid. 2011 marks an important turning point for Korea’s aid as it surpassed 1 billion USD for the first time. Several years of constant growth saw Korea’s ODA reaching 1,325 million USD in 2011 (equivalent to 0.12% of its GNI), compared to 455 million in 2006 (equivalent to 0.05% of
[Supported by]
ASPBAE (Asia South Pacific Association for Basic and Adult Education) OSF (Open Society Foundation)
its GNI). More importantly, the Republic of Korea seems to be politically committed to increasing its aid budget after joining the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Numerous Korean government officials repeatedly expressed their expectations that there would appear to be ample financial scope for the planned increases in its aid volume, in light of Korea’s expected rate of economic growth over the medium term of 3 to 3.5% (OECD, 2012a). 1) All international comparative statistics are from OECD statistics, unless specified (such as the data from Prime Minister Office and Korea National Research Foundation source).