News & Events

Jan 21, 2010

Ambassador Says Peace Corps Experience Makes Her a Better Diplomat

Today's Korea Times includes a feature article on the current U.S. Ambassador, Kathleen Stephens, who served as a Korea Peace Corps volunteer between 1975 - 77.

A classroom teacher in South Chungcheong Province, "Stephens said that the experiences shaped her skills and ideas about what she wanted to do with her life later on."  The article quotes Ambassador Stephens as saying "(Peace Corps) made me a better diplomat. And my first exposure to Korea in the 1970s left me, as it did many Peace Corps volunteers, with a lifelong interest in all things Korean."

You can read the complete article by following this link.  The article coincides with a photo exhibition opening today in Seoul celebrating volunteerism between the two countries, and highlighting the work of Korea RPCVs.  Since 1990, the Korea Overseas Volunteer Program has sent more than 6,000 South Koreans to more than 50 nations as volunteers.