South Korea will cut its 2026 official development assistance (ODA) budget by 19% to $3.8 billion while halving humanitarian aid, a decision that threatens to erode the credibility and influence Seoul has built as an emerging donor nation.

The Lee Jae-myung administration announced the steepest reduction in more than a decade even as it pursues record domestic spending and promises to expand defense spending, underscoring the fiscal pressures that forced development assistance onto the chopping block.

The finance ministry describedthe cut as the natural end to temporary pandemic- and Ukraine-related foreign aid, stating that “commitments made in those