South Korea said on Thursday it has decided to seek to be a founding member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and so become another key ally of the United States joining the China-led institution.

South Korea's Finance Ministry said in a statement that establishment of the AIIB has been promoted to help funnel more investment money into the region while maintaining supplementary relationships with existing multilateral development banks.

The AIIB aims to become an international financial institution providing support to infrastructure projects in Asia, and is expected to be established by the end of this year, the Chinese government has said.