On Divergent Tracks?:

The ODA Policies of Korea and Japan in Comparison

Hyuk-Sang Sohn

This paper aims to conduct a comparative study of South Korean and Japanese ODA policies. Korea has been generally considered to follow in Japan's footsteps in its ODA policies and in its institutional mechanisms. Are Korea's ODA programs simply modeled after those of Japan? This paper tries to test the validity of the hypothetical proposition that Korea's foreign assistance development policy was established based on the Japanese experience by conducting comparative inquiries on the philosophy and purpose, implementation system, and the regional allocation and sectoral distribution. After analyzing the two countries, this paper argues that even though Korea and Japan share many traits in ODA polices, Korea is more likely to pursue humanitarian objectives with its ODA rather than the politico-strategic goals of Japan.