ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to describe the development and contemporary characteristics of Korea's official development assistance (ODA) policy and practice, focusing on bilateral aid, with a view to a comparison with Japan. It reviews Korea's ODA in a historical context and assesses the extent to which, until the 1980s, its ODA policy was determined by its relationship with the North. The history of Korea’s ODA dates back to 1963, when Korea first received trainees from developing countries with financial support from US Agency for International Development. Most of Korea’s bilateral grants are administered by the Korea International Cooperation Agency, supervised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, but, as in the case of Japan, several other ministries and institutions are also involved. Devastated by the Korean War and the subsequent division of the country, the Republic of Korea was one of the poorest countries in the world in 1961.
