date 2009-12-30 18:00 name Spokesperson's Office
1. The basic law on international development cooperation, a comprehensive law concerning Korea's international development cooperation, was passed during the plenary session of the National Assembly on December 29.
? The law prescribes the definition, purpose, and basic concepts of Korea's international development cooperation. It also contains provisions on operating the Committee for International Development Cooperation, chaired by the Prime Minister, and designating a coordinating agency in order to make Korea's dual aid system of grants and concessional loans more comprehensive and systematic.
2. The law has been created after consultation with civic organizations and relevant ministries, including the Office of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, regarding an alternative bill which the Foreign Affairs, Trade and Unification Committee has prepared by combining and adjusting the bills on ODA basic law, proposed by five Representatives Song Min-soon, Jin Young, Kim Boo-kyum, Bae Young-shik, and Lee Mi-kyung respectively in the 18th National Assembly.
3. The enactment of the basic law on international development cooperation provides a comprehensive legal basis in addressing the inefficiency and fragmentation of Korea's ODA system, in which about 30 agencies handle ODA matters individually. Therefore, the law is expected to contribute to enhancing consistency and efficiency of Korea's aid policy.
? The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade handles grants, and the Ministry of Strategy and Finance is responsible for concessional loans. The Committee for International Development Cooperation deliberates and coordinates both grants and concessional loans as a whole.
4. Also, the enactment of the basic law on international development cooperation, together with Korea's accession to the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) in last November, will provide momentum to improve our ODA system.
5. The law will enter into force six months after the date of its promulgation, and the government will prepare a presidential decree on the law in the first half of next year.
Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFAT
* unofficial translation