Paradigm Challenge in Foreign Aid for the Global South? Comparative Analysis of Development Partnership of The Republic of Korea and Other Donors > Journal

At the time of acute humanitarian and development need across the Global South since COVID-19, leading donors have sharply reduced official development assistance (ODA). This study examines six donors, which have reduced foreign aid (Finland, France, Germany, Sweden, UK, US), and six donors that have expanded or reoriented foreign aid (Australia, China, Denmark, Japan, Norway, the Republic of Korea), from 2023 to 2026 using the determinants of foreign aid perspective. Findings show that ODA retrenchment was based on donor-driven national interests including political and security pressures, and not the needs of the recipients. The Republic of Korea’s ODA expansion and retrenchment were driven by national interests. China, a non-OECD DAC member, provided aid aligned with its domestic interests, albeit its discourse was different from DAC. The current reduction of foreign aid reflects a paradigm challenge to the recipient-driven aid architecture, marked by simultaneous budgetary retrenchment and normative reframing across leading donors. Although the growing lacuna left with the reduction and reorientation of aid by traditional donors has yet to be substituted with new donors and new norms, the current phase is a significant move towards a paradigm shift rather than a short-term adjustment

Reduction of ODA among Leading Donors

Analytical Framework

Research Methodology

Analysis of Leading Donors and the Determinants of Foreign Aid

Concluding Remarks and Policy Recommendations