Seoul (AsiaNews) – Finance and Economy Minister Kwon O-kyu said Friday that South Korea will increase its support for developing countries. Citing Korea's improved position in the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Mr Kwon said that his country will increase its official development assistance to poor countries. He made the announcement in a welcoming address at the conference to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Korea's accession to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Korea spent 0.06 per cent of its Gross National Income (GNI) in development assistance in 2004, which some say is too small for the size of its economy, the 12th largest in the world.

Although South Korea's spending in development assistance rose to 0.09 percent of GNI last year, it is still far from the United Nations recommendation of 0.7 per cent of the economy.

After Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Ban Ki-moon announced his run for the UN secretary-general's position, it was pointed out that Korea should raise its development spending to improve its voice in the global community.

For this reason, South Korea plans to introduce a solidarity tax on airplane tickets as well as other measures to help poor countries.