President Lee speaks during the    58th anniversary of the Korean    War.

Korea''s transformation to a developed economy in less than a century is often referred to as the miracle of the Han River. From aid recipient before and after the 1950-53 Korean War, the country has developed to become one of the top 13 major economies.

"Korea is an exemplary country that has benefited much from an open market economy along its road to development. The country has turned from aid receiver to giver in the international community. It is now ready to give something back, commensurate with its enhanced strength," President Lee said at "2009 Global Korea," an international academic forum held in Seoul in late February, to commemorate his first year in office.

The event was attended by former U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, WTO director general Pascal Lamy, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman and many other prominent figures.

The President encourages workers of Sichuan province, China, where deadly earthquakes occurred in 2008.

"Korea has enlarged its official development assistance (ODA) for developing countries three-fold since 2000. Even in difficult economic times, the Korean government increased its ODA budget [for 2009]. I hope that all advanced economies can maintain their level of external assistance for less wealthy countries," Lee added.

The Korean government has put emphasis on international peace keeping operations and official development assistance.

In early March, the Korean Navy launched "Cheonghae," a unit to fight pirates off the Somali coast. The government decided to join the international naval forces of Britain, France, Germany, Russia and many others in order to reduce the growing number of crew abductions and ransom requests.

In December last year, Korea''s Zaytun Unit successfully completed its rehabilitation mission in war-torn Iraq. From 2004 to 2008, the unit not only treated almost 90,000 patients, but also produced around 3,000 graduates from seven vocational training courses. It also built about 280 public buildings there.

President Lee and UN     Secretary  General Ban Ki-moon    at the UN headquarters    in April, 2008

There is also Dongmyeong, a combat unit in Lebanon. The Korean government in 2007 decided to dispatch the unit in accordance with a UN Security Council resolution calling for monitoring the ceasefire agreement between Hezbollah and Israel. Dongmyeong soldiers are working with the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Since 2007, the Dongmyeong Unit has set up 5 medical villages and a number of education facilities. Late last month, Dongmyeong''s medical staff treated its 10,000th patient. Dongmyeong has three doctors and two nurses in its ranks.

Korea''s ODA, marking its 21st anniversary in 2008, has notably expanded in scale. The total was some US$58 million in 1991, but it increased to $112 million in 1993 and then to $403 million in 2004, increasing seven-fold, according to government data.

The government plans to increase the amount of annual assistance to $3 billion by 2015. It also plans to further enhance its developmental assistance by joining the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) by 2010.

By James Ro
Korea.net Staff Writer