The Republic of Korea formally joined the IDB group on March 16, 2005, becoming the Bank's official 47th member country and its second Asian member since Japan joined in 1976.

In addition to its contribution to IDB's Ordinary Capital, the Republic of Korea also committed $200 million to finance three trust funds: Korea Poverty Reduction Fund, Knowledge Partnership Korea Trust Fund, and Korea-IIC Trust Fund for Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Development.

Korea's entry brings the IDB not only new resources, but also new ideas on how to approach development issues, based on the Asian experience of investments in education, science and technology, especially with regard to information and communications technologies (ICT) and small business promotion.

Following the visit of President Moreno, another mission composed of officers from the Financial Services Subdepartment (FSS) of Regional Operations Department 2 (RE2), the Sustainable Development Department (SDS) and from the Office in Japan visited the Republic of Korea in the second week of December. This mission held coordination meetings with the Korean Ministry of Finance and Economy, Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM), and the Ministries of Science and Technology; as well as networking-building meetings with the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), Small Business Corporation (SBC), and the Korean International Trade Association (KITA). The mission also conducted an open outreach seminar that included presentations on the IDB and the Latin America and the Caribbean economy.

The Office in Japan thus began building new partnerships in this new member country, where it plans to expand its outreach programs in 2006 and in years to come.