South Korea has promised to contribute $230 million for global efforts over the next three years to join global humanitarian support for refugees, the foreign ministry said Wednesday.

The contribution plan was unveiled Tuesday (local time) by Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, who is in New York to attend the UN General Assembly, according to the ministry.

In a summit hosted by US President Barack Obama to discuss ways to help refugees, Yun delivered a speech in which Seoul's three-year support plan was announced. Around 50 countries joined the summit meeting.

"I am pleased to announce that my government will offer 230 million US dollars in multilateral humanitarian assistance, subject to domestic procedures, over the next three years," he said.

Yun mentioned the efforts that South Korea has engaged in helping refugees in such countries as Syria and Iraq, where the Seoul government has contributed more than $50 million over the past three years.

He also explained a pilot resettlement project being operated in South Korea since 2015 under which refugee families from Southeast Asia are building new lives here, promising that the government will keep expanding such support programs going forward. (Yonhap)