South Korea will pledge more than $5 million to help millions of Syrians who were displaced by the four-year-long civil war, a senior official said Monday.
South Korea will make an official announcement at a donors conference in Kuwait later this month, Ju Chul-ki, senior presidential secretary for foreign affairs, said in a brief comment to Yonhap News Agency.
He said South Korea's pledge will exceed $5 million -- an amount pledged by Seoul during the second donors conference in 2014, though he did not elaborate.
Kuwait hosted two previous conferences, in 2013 and 2014, which raised $3.9 billion in aid pledges.
More than 12 million Syrians need humanitarian assistance inside the war-torn country, up from 1 million people at the beginning of the conflict in 2011, according to the United Nations.
"We must not allow the world to forget Syria and the atrocities being committed against its people," Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Kyung-wha Kang said in a briefing to the U.N. Security Council in January, according to the U.N. website.
Earlier Monday, South Korean President Park Geun-hye told Kuwait's emir that Seoul will actively participate in the donors conference and make contributions at the request of Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah.
Park is in Kuwait on the first leg of a nine-day tour that will take her to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. (Yonhap)
