Global Korea: foreign aid and national interests in an age of globalization

The year 2010 was important for the Republic of Korea (South Korea). It became a member of the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development's Development Assistance Committee and hosted the Group of Twenty summit in Seoul in November 2010. The country's rapid emergence as an economic Asian tiger has led to a number of reappraisals of its national interests, national security and international responsibilities by providing Official Development Assistance to help combat global poverty in recipient countries. Integral to the new Global Korea initiative are the contemporary domestic policies of multiculturalism. This paper focuses upon the political and technical critiques of South Korean aid provision and considers the strategic implications of the multicultural debate on the country's national interests and its international responsibilities.