Remembering Peace Corps' 15 years in Korea

The Peace Corps once had a mission in Korea, though it may come as a surprise to many now. Between 1966 and 1981, over 2,000 young volunteers were sent to the country in 51 waves, from K-1 to K-51. At the time, Korea was far from the modern nation it has become today. After enduring the Japanese occupation from 1910 to 1945 and the Korean War from 1950 to 1953, Korea was one of the world's poorest nations for decades.

When Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) began arriving in the mid-1960s, the country's landscape was bleak. The hills were barren, and the streets were littered with human waste. During this period, the authoritarian government enforced a strict curfew, prohibiting citizens from venturing outside from midnight to 4 a.m. Ed Klein, who served as a PCV (K-1), recalled in 2016 that his initial reaction upon arrival was a profound sense of being overwhelmed.

David McCann, another PCV (K-1), echoed the sentiment in 2019, stating that the prevailing conditions were simply the way things were. The Peace Corps, established by U.S. President John F. Kennedy in 1961, aimed to fulfill three primary objectives: addressing various countries' needs for trained personnel.