Exhibition to show how Korea rose from recipient to donor

Volunteer doctor Lee Jae-heon tends to a child patient in Arusha, Tanzania.

Officials from developing countries in Asia visit a wind power plant at Sihwa Lake in Korea, as part of East Asia Climate Partnership.

The Korea International Cooperation Agency said it will hold an exhibition of photographs and videos from Tuesday to Thursday to showcase the way South Korea has transformed itself from an aid recipient to a donor country.

In the lobby in front of the Convention Hall on the third floor of BEXCO in Busan, the exhibition will be open to all participants of the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness including government officials from development partners, lawmakers, civic activists and private sector officials.

Under the title of “Making a Better World Together,” the exhibition will feature photographs and videos, with the amount of text minimized so that visitors can intuitively recognize the unique aid history of Korea, KOICA said.

Korea received $12.7 billion in total development assistance from the international community between 1945, when it was liberated from Japanese colonial rule, and the early 1990s, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Workers in Busan Port unload grain shipped from the U.S. (KOICA)

Korean workers pack rice aid at Mokpo Port.

In the 1950s, particularly after the 1950-1953 Korean War, Korea received emergency relief and reconstruction funds from the international community led by the U.S., the major contributor.

Boosted by rapid economic growth from the 1960s to late 1990s, Korea left the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development-Development Assistance Committee (OECD-DAC) list of aid recipients in 2000.

By Kim Yoon-mi (yoonmi@heraldcorp.com)