South Korean public-private actors as the new emerging donor: the case study of Saemaul

The role of new/emerging donors and non-state actors has drawn attention over the last decade. In this context, South Korean has grounded its identity as a middle power, exporting its model of Official Development Assistance (ODA). The country recently joined the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)- Development Assistance Committee (DAC) in 2010. This paper explores how the South Korean state actors and non-state actors have cooperate and interacted in forming the field of development cooperation and explores some of the challenges raised by this interaction. To examine South Korea's development cooperation, this paper looks at how the private sector have been integrated into Korean development initiative through the case study of Global Saemaul Undong in Vietnam (GSV). As such, it can help us better comprehend how private actors involved in Korean ODA through the public-private partnerships (PPPs). The paper shows that ODA policies in South Korea has been shaped through interaction and competition between various stakeholders and policy narratives.