1. Eighty-three former US Peace Corps Volunteers who spent some time in their younger days doing volunteer work in the Republic of Korea, a poor and wounded country back then, and their families and friends will visit the ROK on October 13-19 at the invitation of the Foreign Ministry and the Korea Foundation.

2. During their visit to the ROK, the Peace Corps Volunteers will visit areas where they worked to see how they have changed and meet their pupils and friends who remember them. In addition, they will be briefed on the current state of the ROK’s education and healthcare systems and visit modernized facilities themselves. Their schedule will also include attending a welcome reception hosted by the Foreign Ministry, paying a courtesy call on the National Assembly Speaker, attending a dinner hosted by the Korea Foundation and experiencing Korean culture.

o In particular, a reception hosted by MOFA’s Deputy Minister for Political Affairs (October 14) will be attended not only by the Peace Corps Volunteers who will visit the ROK but also by about 20 other Peace Corps Volunteers, who have been staying in the ROK after the end of their work, and former US Ambassador to the ROK Stephens, making the event more meaningful.

3. The project for inviting former Peace Corps Volunteers to the ROK has been implemented for five years (2009-2013). They were invited first in 2008 and this eighth visit will be the last. The project was launched by the ROK government to note former Peace Corps Volunteers’ hard work and contribution and to further promote people-to-people exchanges between the ROK and the US. It is also expected to help expand the horizons of the ROK-US relations and enhance American people’s understanding of the ROK. 


                           Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFA

*unofficial translation