[News Terms] South Korea Joins 'Ukraine Donor Platform' as New Member

G7 + South Korea, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Other Member Countries
South Korea Contributed $52 Billion (Approx. 69 Trillion Won) Last Year

The 'Ukraine Donor Coordination Platform (Multi-agency Donor Coordination Platform·MDCP)' is a consultative body among key donor countries led by the G7, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Canada, and Japan. Its purpose is to coordinate financial support and medium- to long-term reconstruction plans for Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia, and to discuss Ukraine's reform issues.

Participants include G7 member countries, the European Union (EU) Commission, Ukraine, the World Bank (WB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). On the 14th (local time), it expanded to include four new member countries?South Korea, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden?as well as observer countries.

In the early morning of the 31st of last month (local time), residents of Kharkiv, Ukraine, were wandering around buildings damaged by Russian drone attacks.
[Photo by Kharkiv AFP/ Yonhap News]

This consultative body originated from the 'Ukraine Reform Conference,' held annually since 2017, which began discussing the post-war period from its 5th meeting in July 2022 and transitioned into the 'Ukraine Recovery Conference.' At this conference, the UK advocated for the establishment of the MDCP, announced plans for its launch at the G7 summit in December of that year, and officially launched it in January 2023.

MDCP member countries are democratic market economies that have contributed or pledged since February 2022 to contribute financial support equivalent to reconstruction and rebuilding projects and other financial aid amounting to 1 billion USD or 0.1% of their GDP. Humanitarian and military support are excluded. Observer countries include democratic market economies that have contributed or pledged since February 2022 to contribute financial support amounting to 300 million USD or 0.05% of their GDP.

The MDCP is structured with a decision-making deputy minister-level consultative mechanism called the 'Steering Committee,' an 'Expert and Working Group' composed of international financial institutions and major member countries' financial tracks, 'Sectoral Workshops' involving member countries' ministries and agencies responsible for specific sectors (mine clearance, housing, energy, core social infrastructure, private sector revitalization, transportation) to review pledges and implementation, and 'Secretariats' located in Brussels, Belgium, and Kyiv, Ukraine.

The co-chairs of the Steering Committee, who hold real authority, are Serhii Marchenko, Ukraine's Minister of Finance; Mike Phalen, U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor; and Gert Jan Koopman, Director-General of the EU.

The Presidential Office announced on the 15th that the South Korean government has officially joined the MDCP as a new member country. As of last year, South Korea's participation in Ukraine's reconstruction projects amounts to 52 billion USD (approximately 69 trillion KRW), including 20 billion USD in reconstruction projects requested by the Ukrainian government and 32 billion USD in private-led projects.

Accordingly, it is expected that opportunities for South Korean companies to participate in Ukraine's reconstruction and recovery projects will further expand. The market size for Ukraine's reconstruction projects is estimated to be about 1,200 trillion KRW.