30 years of international development service… Policy connection and future exploration forum at the National Assembly on the 20th

In celebration of the 'International Year of Volunteers' (IVY 2026) designated by the United Nations, an event will be held to review the achievements of Korea's international development volunteer work over the past 30 years and examine the direction of future policy connections.

The International Development Service Division of the Society for International Development and Cooperation (Chairman Jeong Jin-kyung) announced on the 11th that it will hold the 'International Development Service National Assembly Forum' under the theme of 'The next 30 years of Korea's international development service: from expansion of scale to inclusivity and accountability' at the 2nd seminar room of the National Assembly Building in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul on the 20th.

This forum is co-hosted by the offices of Rep. Kim Dong-ah and Cha Ji-ho of the Democratic Party of Korea and the office of Rep. Kim Ki-woong of the People Power Party, and hosted by the International Development Service Division of the Association for International Development Cooperation.

This year is the International Year of Volunteers, re-designated by the United Nations for the first time in 25 years since 2001.

Also, this is the year in which the '2nd Youth Policy Basic Plan' (2026-2030) and the '4th Comprehensive International Development Cooperation Plan' (2026-2030) begin simultaneously. A full revision to the ‘Basic Act on Volunteerism’ is scheduled to go into effect in May next year.

However, it has been pointed out that the overseas volunteer corps dispatched by the government has not had a clear policy position or mid- to long-term integrated tasks among various national plans, such as youth policy (opportunities for overseas work experience), volunteer policy (focus on domestic activities), and international development cooperation policy (lack of specific tasks).

Accordingly, academia, the National Assembly, implementation agencies, and civil society are working together to find ways to connect and develop development directions between youth, volunteerism, and development cooperation policies.

Kang Dae-gu, head of the overseas volunteer team at the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), will give a presentation on 'The current status of international development volunteer projects and the direction of linking youth and citizen participation,' and Oh Ji-eun, a professional researcher at Yonsei University's Institute of Public Affairs, will give a presentation on 'Youth's overseas volunteer service: work experience or citizen participation: international development service between three national plans'.

Next, a special speech will be made by Rep. Kim Dong-ah, who served as the chairman of the National Assembly Youth Future Joint Committee.

Afterwards, under the chairmanship of Jeong Jin-kyung, a professor of public administration at Kwangwoon University, Kwak Jae-sung, president of the Society for International Development Cooperation, Kim Hye-kyung, chairman of the Global Sharing Movement, and Jeong Heon-ju, a professor of public administration at Yonsei University, will discuss development cooperation achievements, civil society and inclusive service, and development cooperation policies.

Based on the results of this forum, the International Development Service Division of the Society for International Development Cooperation plans to publish a policy brief in December and actively promote its reflection in legislation and national plans with the National Assembly and government ministries.