S. Korea to provide $200 million in humanitarian aid to Ukraine this year

Seoul's Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok has said that South Korea will administer $200 million in humanitarian assistance for Ukraine this year as part of its pledged aid package worth $2.3 billion for its recovery efforts following its war with Russia.

Choi Sang-mok presented the plan during the Ukraine roundtable held in Washington on April 17, as President Yoon Suk Yeol vowed to provide an additional $2.3 billion in aid for Ukraine during the Group of 20 (G20) summit in New Delhi in September 2023, Yonhap News Agency reports.

Choi said the Seoul government plans to provide the initial $200 million this year in the form of humanitarian aid for responses to emergency needs in Ukraine, and the remaining $2.1 billion will be administered as long-term, low-interest loans through the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) starting in 2025, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

A decision on detailed recovery and reconstruction projects under the EDCF programme will be made after close consultations, Choi added.

South Korea launched the EDCF programme in 1987 with the purpose of supporting economic and social infrastructure projects in developing countries.

South Korea also will donate $50 million each to the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development for their projects to help Ukraine, the ministry said.

Meanwhile, Choi met with Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) President Ilan Goldfajn in Washington on April 17 and discussed ways of boosting cooperation between South Korea and the organisation.

Choi voiced support for IDB Invest's business model and pledged South Korea will provide a capital increase of $150 million for the entity.

IDB Invest, a private sector arm of the IDB, recently presented a new business model that includes a capital increase of $3.5 billion, which is meant to increase its investments and mobilise capital from the private sector for development projects in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to the organisation.

Choi is in Washington for a trilateral ministerial meeting with his US and Japanese counterparts, and to attend a gathering of finance ministers and central bank representatives of the G20 nations this week.