The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has received a core flexible contribution of $7.8 million (USD 7,842,059) from the Republic of Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, money it can direct to wherever the need is most urgent, WFP said on 19 October. Flexible funding lets the agency take anticipatory action before disasters strike and buy and deliver food quickly in the immediate aftermath of crises.
Korea's ties with WFP go back more than 60 years. From 1964 to 1984, when the country was recovering from the Korean War and facing severe food shortages, WFP ran food assistance and development programmes there. Korea was one of WFP's top five government donors in 2025, which the agency described as a country giving back the support it once received.
This year the ministry also launched the second phase of its Responding with Emergency Assistance for Conflict-Affected Households (REACH) initiative, providing $30 million in emergency food and nutrition assistance to seven countries affected by conflict and disaster.
WFP says an estimated 266 million people face acute food insecurity, driven by conflict, economic shocks and climate-related disasters, among them 45 million at risk of acute hunger linked to the conflict in the Middle East. With needs rising while global funding declines, the agency said the Korean contribution will help protect lives where the need is greatest.
Photo: Oxfam East Africa / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Source: WFP
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