Kang Seung-woo is the Business Desk editor at The Korea Times. Prior to this position, he covered politics, national affairs, finance and sports.
KOICA, US Peace Corps sign MOU to strengthen cooperation
Lee Yun-young, left, acting president of KOICA, poses with Peace Corps Chief of Operations and Administration Thomas Peng at a ceremony for an MOU in Washington, D.C., Thursday (local time). Courtesy of KOICE
By Kang Seung-woo
By Kang Seung-woo
The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the U.S. Peace Corps in Washington, D.C., Thursday (local time), under which the two sides will normalize overseas volunteer dispatch activities, which were largely limited due to COVID-19.
Since 2013, the two organizations have strived to collaborate on global volunteer programs and strengthen exchanges between volunteers of the two nations in developing countries.
The key contents of this MOU include developing common cooperation measures focusing on the Indo-Pacific region, climate response and cooperation on the open exchange of information and technological resources.
The ceremonial signing of the MOU was attended by Acting KOICA President Lee Yun-young, Peace Corps Chief of Operations and Administration Thomas Peng, along with some 20 related personnel.
“I believe that the role and contribution of young generations of our two countries are more important than ever in solving the complex global problems that we face, such as climate change and the health crisis,” Lee said.
“I hope that the cooperation between our two organizations through the signing of this MOU will serve as a good model of collaboration in the area of development cooperation.”
Peace Corps Chief of Operations and Administration Thomas Peng said, “This MOU celebrates the long history of cooperation not only between our two organizations but between our two countries.”
He noted that this MOU marks the next important chapter of ongoing cooperation between Korea and the U.S. to contribute to countries around the world, with a specific focus on the Indo-Pacific region.
Meanwhile, Peace Corps Volunteers who had in the past volunteered in Korea were also present at the ceremony, including Gerard Krzic, president of Friends of Korea who served as an English teacher for three years from 1977 at Daechang Middle School in Yecheon, North Gyeongsang Province. The Friends of Korea was established in 2022 to promote cultural exchange and friendly relations between Korea and the United States.
“It is moving and impressive to see that Korea, where we served a long time ago, has achieved such remarkable growth and development that it has now visited the Peace Corps headquarters to discuss cooperation between the organizations of the two countries,” Krzic said.
Meanwhile, on April 25, KOICA also signed an MOU with the United States Agency for International Development on people-to-people exchanges and knowledge sharing. KOICA expects this will strengthen Korea-U.S. cooperation on development cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region and enhance the results of development cooperation through learning among colleagues.