South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol pledged Sunday to provide an additional US$2.3 billion in aid for Ukraine to help the nation restore peace and rebuild following its war with Russia.

Yoon announced the pledge during a session of the Group of 20 (G20) summit in New Delhi, saying South Korea will provide the initial $300 million in 2024 in the form of humanitarian aid and the remaining $2 billion in the form of long-term, low-interest loans through the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) starting in 2025.

South Korea launched the EDCF program in 1987 with the purpose of supporting economic and social infrastructure projects in developing countries.

“This will demonstrate our responsible role as a global pivotal state in leading assistance for the restoration of peace in Ukraine and lay the foundation for our full-fledged participation in Ukraine’s future reconstruction,” a presidential official said.

During the session, titled “One Future,” Yoon also vowed to help strengthen the role of multilateral development banks to better respond to new challenges, such as overcoming the climate crisis, and enhancing food and energy security.

In particular, he called for the need to increase the banks’ financial resources and speedily reorganize their use with a view to helping low-income nations settle their debts.

Yoon additionally pledged to lead discussions for a rules-based digital order that promotes digital innovations but prevents the abuse of digital technologies and narrows the digital divide among nations.

Yoon’s commitment to a rules-based digital order was demonstrated in his proposal in June to establish an international organization tasked with setting digital rules.

In his opening remarks, Yoon offered his condolences over the massive casualties caused by Friday’s powerful earthquake in Morocco.

“The Republic of Korea will not spare necessary assistance,” he said, referring to South Korea by its formal name.

Source: Yonhap News Agency