1st Edition

International Aid and South Korea Experience from Recipient to Donor

Edited By Sojin Lim Copyright 2025
    160 Pages 4 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    This book explores South Korea's experience as an aid recipient, as an aid donor, and as an inter-Korea aid provider.

    Analysing case studies of international aid both received and dispensed by South Korea, from the end of the Korean War until the present day, this collection provides a novel lens through which to explore South Korea's development pathway. While it examines the cases of Italian and German aid to South Korea during its early economic development period, this volume also delineates South Korea’s international aid in the health and gender sectors. It also discusses the South Korean experience of providing aid to the Mekong region and North Korea. The latter specifically analyses whether this policy represents international altruism or reveals a novel method of international validation for South Korea over its neighbour.

    Featuring an exploration of South Korea's development on the international stage through the lens of aid, this book will appeal to both students and scholars in the fields of Korean studies, East Asian studies, and Asia Pacific studies as well as in the disciplines of Development Studies and International Relations, and Political Economy, particularly that of aid policies and practices.

    1. From ‘Donor’ to ‘Friend’: Italy's Humanitarian Aid and South Korea’s Middle Power Diplomacy in the Wake of the Korean War

    Marco Zappa

    2. German Economic Advisory Group (DVB) to Korea, 1962-1968

    Max Altenhofen

    3. Towards Global Cooperation and Justice: Korean Aid and Beyond

    Jae-Eun Noh

    4. Analysis of KOICA under Gender Mainstreaming Approach: A Case Study in Darkhan, Mongolia

    Patricia Chica-Morales & Antonio J. Doménech

    5. Implementing the Han River Miracle in the Mekong Basin? South Korea’s Economic Development Policies Towards the Mekong River Basin Nations

    Juhee Jeong

    6. Altruism or Ulterior Motives? South Korean Aid Towards North Korea’s Sustainable Development

    Queralt Boadella-Prunell & Lauren Eloise Robertson

    Biography

    Sojin Lim is Reader in Asia Pacific Studies (with special reference to Korea), Course Leader for both MA North Korean Studies and MA Asia Pacific Studies, and Co-Director of the International Institute of Korean Studies at the University of Central Lancashire, UK. She is the author of articles and book chapters on sustainable development and political economy. Her recent publications include International Aid and Sustainable Development in North Korea (2024). She frequently discusses changes in the Korean Peninsula in media interviews.