Foreign ministry's 2026 budget sees 15 percent drop to $2.46 billion as ODA allocation reduced
Published: 03 Dec. 2025, 17:07
![The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in central Seoul [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/12/03/ce2e4d40-8f83-4f49-9ed2-fe11ca850f2d.jpg)
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in central Seoul [YONHAP]
The foreign ministry's budget for next year has been set at 3.615 trillion won ($2.46 billion), led by a decrease in the allocation for official development assistance (ODA), the foreign ministry said Wednesday.
The budget, finalized at the National Assembly the previous day, marks a 15.5 percent on-year decline from this year's 4.28 trillion won budget, the ministry said in a release.
The allocation for ODA spending decreased to 2.18 trillion won for 2026, from 2.89 trillion won set aside for this year, leading the overall budget reduction.
Of the ODA spending plans, the humanitarian assistance budget was nearly halved to 335.5 billion won, with the dues for international organizations falling from 826.2 billion won to 681.8 billion won.
The budget for the Korea International Cooperation Agency, the state aid agency, also decreased to 1.14 trillion won from 1.29 trillion won.
The sectoral basic budget allotted for overseas diplomatic missions rose slightly to 152.1 billion won from 148.9 billion won, as part of an effort to better address incidents involving Korean nationals, including transnational crimes.
The finalized budget also includes funds to support Korean companies investing in the United States, following the mass detention of Korean workers in a U.S. immigration sweep in September.
Around 660 million won has been allocated for promoting Korea-China relations, with 250 million won set aside to prepare for Korea's hosting of the Group of 20 forum in 2028.
Yonhap
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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