South Korea has joined the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The OECD approved South Korea’s entry into the assistance committee during the committee’s special meeting in Paris on Thursday.

By entering the DAC, South Korea has become the first nation to see its status shift from aid beneficiary to aid provider since the OECD’s establishment in 1961.

South Korea’s entry into the assistance committee, which comes 13 years after South Korea joined the OECD, is also likely to raise South Korea’s national credibility.

The 23-member DAC is an organization of donor countries that provides more than 90 percent of world assistance. South Korea will begin official activities as a member in January.