With Korea’s overseas aid having taken root, the next government should establish and institutionalize the model of the country’s official development assistance in its policy framework to shore up its role as an emerging donor, the chief of the Korea International Cooperation Agency said. 

In recent years, whether and how to define Korea’s ODA model has surfaced as one of the most hotly debated topics in the field. Some policymakers and scholars argue a model would help boost the country’s edge in its specialty areas, whereas others stress the need for a more recipient-oriented approach and the minimization of political influence at home. 

For Kim In-shik, president of the state grant aid provider, a model is vital for Seoul to make the leap from a “game follower” to a “game changer.” A concrete, sustainable policy framework would help better cement Korea’s edge in such areas as democratic transition, electronic administration and agricultural reform, while contributing to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, he said. 

“Korea’s experience from an aid recipient to donor, industrialization and democratization would make a unique ODA model,” Kim said in a recent interview with The Korea Herald.

“We, too, learned from other countries during our own development process but built on our experience and turned it into our strength, which should be made a model and reflected in policy.” 

The year 2016 was a turbulent year for the development aid community as it smarted from the corruption scandal triggered by President Park Geun-hye and her old friend Choi Soon-sil. Choi’s paper company is found to have attempted to manipulate some of the country’s overseas aid programs for her own financial gain.  

KOICA had taken a hit from the scandal, as it struggled to cope with formidable outside pressure that did not cater to its principles and values. 

In the wake of the scandal, the National Assembly slashed nearly 30 percent, or 4.2 billion won ($3.6 million) of this year’s budget for the Korea Aid project to 10.2 billion won. 

For KOICA, the cut was a relief. Having shaken off the pressure, the agency is now refurbishing the overall program, closing a controversial food distribution and cultural element, which Choi’s organization had pushed for, and expanding medical services in cooperation with medical schools, civic groups and other volunteers nationwide. 

“The program does have positive components such as a mobile clinic that could go around the marginalized regions in developing countries like islands. It’s something even the host country can’t afford,” Kim said. 

“Now we want the (Korea Aid) program to be a platform or base of people --friendly volunteer medical services -- and the first batch of five university hospital doctors and 14 student volunteers already arrived in Uganda last week.” 

Aside from the leadership transition, this year is also important as Seoul faces its second “peer review” from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Development Assistance Committee since 2012. 

The government and KOICA have been striving to address issues raised in the first review, such as a heavier use of tied aid and loans relative to grants, policy fragmentation among state agencies, insufficient staff and its treatment. 

Korea set aside about 2.7 trillion won on some 1,300 ODA projects this year, marking a 12 percent on-year growth. Bilateral grants and loans account for about half and 34 percent of the total, respectively, with the remainder allotted for multilateral initiatives.

But the country has a long way to go to tackle the challenges, Kim said, given the current operation structure and budget woes. 

Ahead of an administration change, debate is expected to re-emerge over ways to integrate grants and loans, such as a launch of a new, independent aid agency such as the US Agency for International Development, or a ministry taking over other agencies’ functions to serve as a control tower.

To prop up countries that Seoul could not pay due attention to despite their urgent needs, KOICA seeks to scale up programs and open new offices there this year, in places such as Nicaragua and Kyrgyzstan. 

At home, Kim seeks to reinforce public awareness by boosting the agency’s educational and research functions internally and in partnership with other institutions. KOICA set up seven local development cooperation centers in seven regions including Busan, Jeju, Daegu and Jeonju.  

“We want to aggressively reach out to countries that are in need of our help from the humanitarian point of view,” Kim said, citing Liberia and Sierra Leone which suffered from the massive Ebola outbreak last year. 

“As for education, we may be a latecomer but are now starting to become a platform for global citizenship education with the two pillars of research and public outreach, raising awareness about the SDG and other issues.”

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)