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Korea now member of OECD assistance donor group

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Korea joined the club of donor nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on Wednesday, Nov. 25 (Paris time).

A special OECD conference in Paris approved of Korea's membership in the organization's Development Assistance Committee by a unanimous decision.

The DAC is an international forum where donor governments and multilateral organizations - such as the World Bank and the United Nations - come together to help partner countries reduce poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

The committee, comprising 24 advanced nations (Korea included), such as the United States, France, Germany, Australia, Japan and the European Union, provides over 90 percent of developmental assistance worldwide.

To be a member of the DAC, a country's annual development assistance should exceed US$100 million or 0.2 percent of its gross national income.

The Korean government's developmental assistance amounted to $800 million last year, and it plans to expend $900 million on such aid this year. Currently seven OECD members, including Iceland, Turkey, Mexico and Hungary are waiting to join the committee.

Korea's gaining membership is significant, since it is the first nation to have transformed from an aid recipient to a donor nation since the establishment of the OECD.

The OECD was established in 1961, just when Korea received a large amount of official development assistance from advanced nations to lay the groundwork for its economic development. In just about half a century, the country is now ready to lend a hand to help other African and Southeast Asian nations.

Also with its inclusion as a member into the DAC at this time, Korea has become a member of all 25 sub-committees of the OECD, which the country joined in 1996, according to the government.

By James Ro, Korea.net Staff Writer

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