Tomorrow: On Hillary Clinton's Agenda

United States and South Korea Sign the U.S.-ROK Development Cooperation

Notice to the Press

Office of the Spokesman

Washington, DC

June 23, 2011

---

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Republic of Korea (ROK) Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan, USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah, and Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) President Park Dae-won will sign the U.S.-ROK Development Cooperation Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on June 24 at approximately 2:35 p.m., in the Benjamin Franklin Room at the Department of State.

Secretary Clinton and Foreign Minister Kim will hold a joint press availability immediately following the signing.

The MOU is another milestone of the U.S.-ROK global partnership and recognizes the ROK’s growing emergence as a donor country. As the newest member of the OECD Development Assistance Committee, the ROK has made impressive strides to expand its official development assistance (ODA) programs and has pledged to triple its ODA budget by 2015. The MOU will enhance policy coordination between both sides to promote the impact and efficiency in aid delivery within mutually agreed priority areas such as global hunger and food security, maternal and children’s health, and climate change. The U.S. and ROK have a mutual interest in working more closely together as both sides recognize that the scope of today’s development challenges require concerted efforts to expand development resources. The MOU puts into place a meaningful partnership to expand the reach of development assistance and help encourage the shift from aid to sustained economic growth and prosperity.