1. The government of the Republic of Korea has decided to provide humanitarian assistance worth 3 million USD to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, facing unprecedentedly serious economic difficulties, and to the Republic of Colombia, the Republic of Peru, and the Republic of Ecuador, which are shouldering the burden of accommodating a massive number of refugees and migrants from Venezuela.

2. Venezuela is experiencing severe hyperinflation, as well as economic difficulties that have continuously worsened after global oil prices dropped in 2014. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the Organization of American States (OAS), the scale of Venezuelan outflow reached about 3.4 million people as of the end of March 2019, which corresponds to more than 10 percent of the country’s total population, and 94 percent of the Venezuelan population is living in poverty.

o To make matters worse, the vast majority of the Venezuelan refugees and migrants are fleeing to the neighboring  countries, including Colombia (1.2 million), Peru (0.7 million), and Ecuador (220,000), placing heavy burden on the neighboring countries’ economy and society.

3. Of the 3 million USD humanitarian assistance, the ROK government will allocate 1 million USD to provide emergency food and medical relief to the Venezuelan people, and the other 2 million USD to support Venezuelan refugees and migrants staying in neighboring countries - Colombia, Peru and Ecuador - as well as the host communities.

4. The announcement marks one of the disbursements of the ROK’s humanitarian assistance this year, including its 12-million-USD commitment to the Syrian crises in March. The Korean government will continue to actively participate in the global humanitarian response to tackle humanitarian crises worldwide.

* unofficial translation