S. Korea to provide $200M in humanitarian aid to Ukraine

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, Seoul's finance minister has said, Report informs via Yonhap.

Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok presented the plan during the Ukraine roundtable held in Washington on Wednesday (U.S. time), 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.

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.

Detailed recovery and reconstruction projects under the EDCF program will be decided after close consultations, Choi added.

South Korea launched the EDCF program 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 Wednesday and discussed ways of boosting cooperation between South Korea and the organization.

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 mobilize capital from the private sector for development projects in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to the organization.

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 deputies of the G20 nations this week.