Redefining South Korean ODA (Official Development Assistance): How Technical Aid Emerges from its Contexts (1954-1965)

This paper considers the origins of South Korean ODA (official development assistance), working through the lens of KOICA’s (Korea International Cooperation Agency) two main predecessor institutions in the early 1960s. In contrast to KOICA (1991-prsent), associated with a rich Korea, this earlier period was dominated by small-scale efforts at outreach with neighboring countries, especially in Southeast Asia and Africa.In this context, two arguments emerge. First, Korean aid began earlier than is generally assumed, with the first outreach to African partners coming under discussion as early as 1960. Second, when the nation began its official in-country workshops a few years later, these were heavily influenced by the experiences Koreans had themselves undergone with the US in the form of “third-county training,” in which the US paired its partners to speed up the transfer of knowledge. In brief, Korean aid at its start point took place most frequently with new post-colonial partners, whether for diplomatic recognition, or for the exchange of knowledge, and went on to shape a new network as KODCO (Korean Overseas Development Corporation, 1965-1991) became a reality in the mid-1960s.