South Korea and Japan will hold a meeting Friday on official development assistance (ODA) to discuss international development issues and aid policies in both countries, the government said Thursday.
The 11th such a meeting, slated to be held in Tokyo, will serve as a good chance to strengthen bilateral cooperation on developmental issues, according to S. Korea's foreign ministry.
The two countries are the only two Asian members of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a body comprised of donor nations, according to the ministry.
Seoul joined the DAC as its 24th member last November, and increased the amount of international aid to 419 billion won (362 million U.S. dollars) this year, an 18 percent rise from the previous year.
A total of 56 countries will be receiving Seoul's aid, with Afghanistan set to be granted the biggest chunk of the sum, while 80 percent of the total aid budget will be awarded to 27 countries at the advice of the DAC.
