World Bank to open regional offices later this year

The World Bank (WB) will open its regional office in South Korea later this year as both push for increased cooperation in providing expertise and other support for developing countries, the finance ministry said Friday. The agreement was reached during a meeting in Washington between WB President Jim Yong Kim and Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok, who is now in Washington to attend the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the WB. The main office, which will be located in Songdo, west of Seoul, is expected to be officially launched in December, as the Seoul government said it is pushing for ratification of the agreement by that time. A separate liaison office will also be opened in Seoul under the agreement, the ministry added. The move came after both sides tentatively agreed to open regional offices in South Korea last year when the then Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan met with the WB president in Seoul. The locations of those offices were not determined at the time. The offices are expected to help South Korea step up cooperation with the WB in carrying out diverse development programs and create a "strategic" relationship between both sides, the ministry said.