The motives behind Korea's leading e-government aid program

During the past decade Korea has provided the most Official Development Assistance (ODA) in the field of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) among the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) members. E-government reforms helped South Korea cut corruption and improve government effectiveness, and the Korean ICT ODA programs offer poor countries a similar opportunity to promote economic and social development. Tobit regression analysis of Korean ICT ODA to 153 developing nations reveals, though, that the Korean program has emphasized economic self-interest to the detriment of humanitarian concerns, potentially jeopardizing the program’s mission and effectiveness. To improve aid effectiveness, Korea should direct more Egovernment assistance to recipients with democratic political institutions and greater humanitarian need.