According to Yonhap News,

(SEOUL = Yonhap News) South Korea will likely spend up to 8.8 trillion won (US$8.3 billion) in funding key international financial bodies next year, as part of an effort to raise its stature in the global community, the government said Sunday.

The Ministry of Strategy and Finance recently briefed the parliament on a plan to spend an extra 8.48 trillion won in 2014 in funding international financial organizations, on top of the 272.9 billion won fixed for next year, according to ministry officials.

Such overseas financial bodies include the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and their sister agencies.

South Korea is expected to spend the bulk of the budget -- 8.4 trillion won -- on the IMF, with an additional 38.2 billion won for the World Bank.

The country plans to invest 13.2 million won for the International Development Association (IDA) and 6.45 billion won for the International Finance Corp. (IFC).

The IDA and IFC are sister agencies of the World Bank that have been set up to cater to supporting underdeveloped nations.

Seoul will also offer funds to global financial bodies that focus on the Asian and African regions. The government plans to provide the Asian Development Bank with 36.5 billion won, with some 4.3 billion won to go to the African Development Bank and one of its funds.

With the parliament's approval, the investment will help South Korea expand its status in the international community, the ministry said.

The increased quota in the IMF spending will raise Korea's share to 1.8 percent from the current 1.4 percent, with that in the World Bank to climb to 1.63 percent from 1.0 percent as of 2010, according to the finance ministry.

The South Korean government uses its foreign reserves to invest in international financial organizations.

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