The South Korean government is pledging $2 million worth of aid to Hawaii to support relief efforts on Maui, where the deadliest U.S. wildfire of the last century destroyed the historic town of Lahaina with at least 99 confirmed deaths since Tuesday.

It’s the first pledge of support from a foreign government as Hawaii authorities continue to fight active wildfires across Maui and work to count and identify the dead in Lahaina.

In a statement released to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, the Republic of Korea’s Honolulu Consulate said that “the assistance is expected to help the Hawaii state government swiftly handle the aftermath of the disaster and Hawaii residents to return to their daily lives, and to contribute to deepening friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries.”

A Korean official told the Star-Advertiser that $1.5 million of its pledge will be in cash, and an additional $500,000 would be used to purchase drinking water, food blankets and other supplies from local Korean markets and deliver them to the state government to distribute.

Hawaii occupies a special place in the U.S.-South Korean alliance, which turned 70 this year. In the release, the South Korean Consulate said the aid carries “particular significance” as Hawaii is the place where Korean immigration to the United States began in 1903.

The first Koreans came to Hawaii to work the plantations, but the islands would in time become a destination for Korean revolutionaries fleeing Imperial Japan’s occupation of the Korean Peninsula and became a hotbed for the Korean independence movement. One of those exiled revolutionaries, Syngman Rhee, would return after World War II to become the Republic of Korea’s controversial first President.

To this day, the ties between Hawaii and South Korea are deep. According to the most recent data from the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, South Korea is Hawaii’s No. 2 source of international imports and No. 6 international export market. Car parts, fuel, food, cosmetics and other goods move between Hawaii and South Korea by ship and plane.

“The United States sent 1.8 million military service members, of which 37,000 lost their lives to defend the Republic of Korea during the Korean War,” South Korean Consul General of Honolulu Lee Seo Young told the Star-Advertiser. “Since then, the alliance between the ROK and U.S. has contributed to the Republic of Korea becoming the 10th largest economic power in the world.”

Once a major recipient of foreign aid, the South Korean economy has boomed in recent decades, and the country has become a player on the global stage as a provider of foreign aid and as Korean cultural exports like dramas and music have become global sensations.

In its statement, the South Korean government said that “amid the deepening humanitarian crisis triggered by increasing damage from fires caused by climate change and the growing demand for international cooperation over the crisis, the Korean government will take part in the efforts to resolve global issues and will continue to contribute to disaster relief operations overseas in order to fulfill its vision to become a global pivotal state.”