Seoul: The foreign ministry's budget for the year 2026 has been confirmed at 3.615 trillion won (US$2.46 billion), reflecting a reduction in the allocation for official development assistance (ODA), as announced by the foreign ministry on Wednesday.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the budget was finalized at the National Assembly the day before, showing a 15.5 percent decrease compared to this year's budget of 4.28 trillion won. The significant drop in the overall budget is attributed to the reduction in ODA spending, which has been decreased to 2.18 trillion won for 2026, down from the 2.89 trillion won allocated this year.

The humanitarian assistance budget within the ODA spending plans has nearly been halved, now amounting to 335.5 billion won. Additionally, contributions to international organizations have reduced from 826.2 billion won to 681.8 billion won.

The budget for the Korea International Cooperation Agency, the state aid agency, has also been cut to 1.14 trillion won from 1.29 trillion won. On the other hand, the basic budget for overseas diplomatic missions has seen a slight increase, rising to 152.1 billion won from 148.9 billion won, to better manage incidents involving South Korean nationals, including those related to transnational crimes.

Funds have been allocated in the finalized budget to support South Korean companies investing in the United States. This allocation is in response to the mass detention of Korean workers during a U.S. immigration sweep in September. Moreover, approximately 660 million won has been assigned to enhance South Korea-China relations, with 250 million won earmarked for preparing to host the Group of 20 forum in 2028.