President Yoon Suk Yeol announced that South Korea will boldly increase its official development assistance(ODA) funding next year.

Yoon unveiled the plan during his speech at the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday.

He said that despite this year’s fiscal austerity measures, Seoul expanded its ODA budget for 2024 by more than 40 percent, more than doubling the amount allocated in the fiscal year of 2019.

Yoon said the increased ODA funds will be used to foster development cooperation tailored to the needs of partner countries.

The president also disclosed plans to contribute an additional 300 million dollars to the Green Climate Fund as part of efforts to help countries vulnerable to climate change reduce their carbon emissions and accelerate their transition to clean energy.

He expressed hope that the international community will provide active financial support for the Green Climate Fund and that global joint efforts to narrow the climate divide would lead to tangible progress.

Yoon added that South Korea will launch “a ‘Carbon Free Alliance,’ an open platform that anyone in the world can join to promote the adoption of carbon-free energy,” as he said Seoul will harness renewable as well as high-efficiency carbon-free energy, including nuclear power and hydrogen, to promptly achieve carbon neutrality.