A ceremony was held in the southwestern Port of Gunsan on Wednesday to celebrate the nation's decision to double overseas food aid this year.

According to the agriculture ministry on Wednesday, the event was held ahead of the May 3 shipment of 15-thousand tons of rice for one-point-16 million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

Since joining the United Nations Food Assistance Convention in 2018, South Korea has annually provided 50-thousand tons of rice to five countries.

Seoul has decided to double the provision to 100-thousand tons starting this year, with the aid expected to be delivered to eleven countries. The increased volume is enough to support around two-point-six million people for three months.

The ministry said it is also running the "K-rice belt" project to create rice seed production complexes in African countries experiencing rice production shortages and to supply cultivation technologies.