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Some groups are pointing out that beginning with the recent tsunami that has claimed over 100,000 lives in South Asia, the Korean government and people must change the way they think about foreign aid and increase the amount of funds Korea sends abroad. They argue that besides the nation's humanitarian obligations, the Southern leadership must also consider Korea¡¯s long-term interests.
The government has increased the amount of assistance to be sent to South Asia from US$600,000 (W624.6 million) to $5 million, but one gets the impression that is little more than a passive reaction to the opinion of the international community.
Up till now, the largest amount of relief assistance offered by Korea was $1.2 million, sent in the aftermath of the earthquake that struck the historical city of Bam in Iran in December 2003.
Korea has usually kept its disaster aid limited to between $50,000 and $100,000, such as the $70,000 it sent to Turkey after thousands were killed following large tremors in 1999.
The amount of money the Foreign Ministry can use for foreign disaster relief is limited to about $1 million a year. The ministry has worked to increase the amount of funds at its disposal, but its requests have been pushed lower and lower down the nation's list of priorities. This is because Korea's understanding of aid seems stuck in a time warp.
Korea¡¯s foreign disaster relief was not the only matter in which the nation failed to perform sufficiently. Korea¡¯s official development assistance (ODA) was only 0.06 percent of its Gross National Income (GNI). This wasn¡¯t even half the amount given by Spain or Australia, two nations with similarly sized economies.
Cho Hyun, head of the Foreign Ministry¡¯s international economic bureau, said the amount of aid Korea gives annually works out at about $8 per head of population. The region of this latest tragedy, South Asia, is one receiving attention, as it will form part of the East Asia Community, a project that will slowly become a new and dynamic economic reality.
(Lee Ha-won, may2@chosun.com )
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