- Reaffirming Korea’s commitment to the achievement of the SDGs and promoting support for the Korea-led norm for development effectiveness -

Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Kim Jina attended the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4), co-hosted by the United Nations and the government of Spain from June 30 to July 3 in Seville. The conference brought together over 10,000 participants from governments of United Nations member states, international organizations, civil society, academia, and private businesses to assess the fast-evolving global development landscape and explore the international community’s support and cooperation strategies for socioeconomic development in developing countries.

In her keynote address on July 2, Vice Minister Kim underscored the significance of the conference, which convened for the first time in a decade, amid the intensifying global polycrisis. She emphasized that the new Korean administration is committed to actively addressing international humanitarian challenges arising from conflicts, and disasters as well as poverty, hunger, inequality and diseases through international development cooperation grounded in solidarity and partnership. She also shared Korea’s development journey from one of the poorest countries in the aftermath of war to an official donor and expressed hope for building forward-looking partnerships.

Furthermore, Vice Minister Kim welcomed the adoption of the Compromiso de Sevilla, the conference's outcome document, as a key milestone toward fostering sustainable international cooperation and mobilizing innovative financing for development. She particularly appreciated the document's clear stress on the principles of “development effectiveness*,” a key norm championed by Korea. On that note, she highlighted that Korea will actively contribute to promoting global awareness and support for effective development cooperation by hosting the 8th Busan Global Partnership Forum this September.

* Core principles of development effectiveness: ▲country ownership ▲focus on results ▲inclusive partnerships ▲transparency and mutual accountability

In addition, Vice Minister Kim participated in various roundtables and side events held during the conference and presented Korea’s support for institutional reforms in developing countries through the strengthening of public administration capacity. She emphasized that Korea will continue to actively support international monitoring and knowledge-sharing efforts related to development cooperation, thereby further strengthening the Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation (GPEDC)*.

* The GPEDC is an inclusive platform that monitors the implementation of development effectiveness principles and promotes related knowledge-sharing. It was established in 2012 pursuant to the outcome document adopted at the 2011 Busan High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (HLF-4).

On the sidelines of the conference, Vice Minister Kim held bilateral meetings with key figures from major international platforms, including Amy Pope, Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM); Carsten Staur, Chair of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC); Li Junhua, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs at the United Nations; and Kim Sang-hyup, Director-General of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI). During these meetings, she outlined the new Korean administration’s commitment to contributing to the international community and relevant policy direction and discussed ways to strengthen cooperation with these organizations.

Vice Minister Kim also met bilaterally with Diego Martinez, State Secretary for Foreign and Global Affairs of Spain, and Hisashi Matsumoto, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, to exchange views on advancing Korea-Spain and Korea-Japan bilateral relations as well as on measures for cooperation to promote sustainable development.

The conference served as an opportunity for Korea to reaffirm its commitment to advancing the implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and addressing various global challenges, and to enhance its visibility in relevant international efforts. Korea will continue to actively engage in discussions at international organizations, such as the United Nations, the OECD and the G20, on shaping global development cooperation norms and systems and will foster broader international recognition and support for effective development cooperation by hosting the 8th Busan Global Partnership Forum this September.