Paid Aid
South Korea will support the reconstruction of Ukraine, which is at war with Russia. It will provide about US$130 million through the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF), a form of paid aid.
Korean Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho held a bilateral meeting with Yuliia Svyrydenko, first deputy prime minister of Ukraine, and signed an EDCF loan agreement between the Korean government and the Ukrainian government at Shilla Hotel in Seoul on May 17.
Previously, the Korean government provided a total of US$100 million in support, including humanitarian assistance, to Ukraine last year. In February it announced its intention to provide an additional US$130 million in support.
The EDCF is the Korean government’s long-term and low-interest loan to the governments of developing countries to support their economic and industrial development. A loan agreement is a treaty that establishes the fact that the Korean government will loan these funds to a recipient country and states general principles about the loan.
The two governments have been negotiating a donor agreement, which is a procedural requirement for assistance to Ukraine through the EDCF. With the recent completion of the working group between the two ministries, the formal signing is expected to take place during the visit of the deputy prime minister of Ukraine. The two sides agreed to actively cooperate in subsequent steps, including project development, to ensure that future support can be realized via the EDCF.