South Korea has officially joined the Paris Club, a group of public lenders which until now was made of developed countries. Making the announcement on June 6, the Club thus shows that it is opened to emerging economics which are becoming increasingly important on the sovereign debt market.

“South Korea’s arrival in the group is proof of its growing importance as a sovereign lender,” the Club said in a statement.

“As a member, Korea will be able to better influence global financial trends and weigh in future restructuring of the Paris Club’s sovereign debts,” it added.

Established in 1956, the Paris Club is defined as “a multilateral institution that allows lenders to recover their grants in arrears and find an efficient and rapid solution to sovereign debt crises”. This “informal” group which counts among its members France, the USA, Germany, Japan and Switzerland has announced in April 2016 it was going to admit major emerging nations.

The club which is quite selective now awaits China’s response given that the emerging economy is highly active in Africa’s sovereign debt market.