South Korea has taken an increasingly prominent role on global development issues during the past five years. It became the 24th member of the OECD DAC in November 2009, completing its transition from recipient country to donor. Since 2004, South Korea has increased its global development assistance from $473 million to $1.2 billion in 2010.

Although South Korea has historically concentrated its development assistance among its East Asian neighbors, it has steadily increased its assistance to sub-Saharan Africa in recent years. 19% ($220 million) of Its development assistance in 2010 was directed towards the region. However, it narrowly missed its target of tripling total development assistance to Africa between 2006 and 2008.

Following the second Korea-Africa Forum in 2009, South Korea pledged to double its development assistance to Africa by 2012 to bring total annual development assistance to $214 million. South Korea has made pledges to the Global Fund and GAVI, and has committed $50 million to the GAFSP over the next three years.

When South Korea became the first non-G7 country to host the prestigious G20 Heads of State meeting in November 2010, its leadership provided as a vital bridge between developed and developing countries. An initiative to enhance global financial safety nets was launched at the summit, a commitment that aims to give countries practical tools to manage sudden shifts in international capital flows caused by volatility in the financial markets. South Korea should continue to provide leadership on this issue and ensure that it remains on the agenda for future global summits.

South Korea has indicated that it hopes to improve the effectiveness of its development assistance in the coming years, including a commitment to untie 75% of its ODA by 2015.4 In 2009, 50% of Its bilateral aid was tied.5 South Korea will host the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan in 2011, which will be a key opportunity for its government to unveil its aid effectiveness plans and provide leadership around issues such as transparency, promoting South–South cooperation and engaging with donors which are not members of the DAC on aid effectiveness.