Korea proposes 2027 ODA budget at $4.6 billion

Prime Minister Han Seong-sook speaks during a meeting on official development assistance, Thursday. Yonhap

The government finalized a budget proposal for official development assistance (ODA) for 2027 at 6.3 trillion won ($4.6 billion) on Thursday, marking an increase of 871.2 billion won from this year.

The budget proposal was part of the comprehensive ODA plan for 2027 approved during a meeting presided over by Prime Minister Han Seong-sook. The budget will be finalized after a review by the ministry of planning and budget and then approval from the National Assembly.

Next year's plan, drawn up based on a mid-term ODA strategy that the government announced in May, calls for focusing on healthcare, culture and artificial intelligence -- strategic cooperation sectors designated in the mid-term plan for the next five years.

Drought and flood prevention projects, such as dam construction and river management, are among the high priorities. The government will also push for projects based on specific needs of recipient nations while actively utilizing culture and artificial intelligence (AI), areas that South Korea has an edge over other nations, officials said.

In particular, AI is the signature agenda item for Han, formerly an IT businessperson who served as CEO of internet giant Naver.

As part of ODA cooperation, the government plans to help establish "AI ecosystems" in recipient nations by helping them improve laws and regulations in a way that can take advantage of AI while helping foster AI experts by operating internship programs linked to master's and doctoral degree courses.

AI will also be used to improve transparency and efficiency of ODA projects, officials said.

South Korea will also utilize AI to strengthen ODA partnerships and lead the global AI agenda through summit diplomacy and international conferences, while developing joint projects with international organizations based on the Global AI Hub, a global AI cooperation platform that South Korea is leading, officials said.

"The global AI society vision we are presenting today offers a new direction for international development cooperation under which the benefits of AI do not stay in the hands of any specific countries or classes, but are fairly distributed across all members of the international society," Han said at the start of the meeting.

"This is our government's international development cooperation vision aimed at building an inclusive future where we share the benefits of AI technology with the international society and no one is left behind," she said.