{
  "id": 18475892,
  "title": "[FRIENDS OF KOREA] Korea found me",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/06/friends-of-korea-korea-found-me-18475892",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-06T09:32:03.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Korea Times",
    "slug": "the-korea-times",
    "url": "https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/southkorea/globalcommunity/20261106/friends-of-korea-korea-found-me"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In the summer of 1977, I received a call after applying to the U.S. Peace Corps to serve as a volunteer overseas. While I had chosen Nepal, Kenya, and the Caribbean as my preferred destinations, Peace Corps headquarters informed me that there were no openings in those countries. Instead, they suggested Afghanistan. However, before finalizing my decision, I went camping for a weekend and returned to the Peace Corps headquarters with Korea as my top choice. Despite having seen only limited exposure to Korea through the TV series \"M*A*S*H\" and my admiration for Ted Williams, a former Boston Red Sox player who had flown combat missions during the 1950-53 Korean War, I decided to take the plunge. The only image of the country that came to my mind was the joy of the Korean women's volleyball team after they defeated the Japanese women in the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games. Thus, I packed my backpack and duffel bag and boarded a flight to San Francisco.",
  "summary": "I got the call in the summer of 1977, after applying to the U.S. Peace Corps to serve overseas as a volunteer. The application form allowed us to cite three countries in which we thought we might like to serve. I listed Nepal, Kenya and (a throwaway choice for fun in the sun) the Caribbean. Peace Corps headquarters told me that no openings were available in those places; would Afghanistan do…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}