|
Korea¡¯s aid to foreign countries ranks second to last among the 30 member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). According to the "Development Cooperation Report" the organization issued on Friday, Korea¡¯s aid to foreign countries in 2005 was $752 million. That was just 0.1 percent of Korea¡¯s Gross National Income. When we exclude Mexico whose statistics have yet to be issued, Korea ranked just above Poland. And for Korea, even that number was an improvement over the 0.06 percent it recorded 2004. This is far below the UN-recommended level of 0.7 percent of GNI and less than one-third of the average 0.33 percent of the member nations of the OECD. This shows how stingy the world¡¯s 12th-largest economy is in helping countries in need. In the aftermath of the tsunami in South Asia in 2004, Korea announced one of the lowest aid amounts of $600,000.
Korea was itself the recipient of international aid during a time when many Koreans did not know where their next meal would come from. And it was such help that gave Korea the strength to emerge as a country with $600 billion in trade volume. At a time when we are capable of helping others, it is not a virtue to do so but our duty.
Aid to foreign countries is a national strategy. China not only wrote off $10 billion of African debt, but decided to double its aid to the region over the next three years. China did not do this because it is rolling in cash. The move came in the view that gratitude will soon benefit China in the form of increased influence.
The ranks of foreign aid volume among OECD member nations are lined up according to the sizes of their economies. Advanced countries are rich, but do not always have vast land or human resources. They are respected by the international community. But at this rate, Korea looks set to become an arrogant country that flashes its wealth without giving.
|
