FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, October 21, 1999

Korean Cooperation Agency Visits Virginia; Peace Corps' Korean Counterpart to Shadow Recruiters at the University of Virginia

Washington, D.C. October 21, 1999—A representative from Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) will travel to Charlottesville, Va., next week with Peace Corps recruiters to participate in and learn from a recruitment trip to a college campus. The Charlottesville trip is part of a month-long information exchange during which KOICA\'s Assistant Manager, Hayne Shin, will spend time with Peace Corps volunteers and staff to learn more about how the world\'s premiere international volunteer-sending agency operates. The Korean agency is similar to Peace Corps in that it sends trained citizens overseas to work in developing countries. It fields about 250 people a year in 21 countries in programs such as nursing, mechanics, agriculture, early childhood education and computer technology.
"I hope to learn from Peace Corps\' successes and challenges," said Ms. Shin "Our program is smaller than Peace Corps\', but if we can apply the knowledge gained to our system, perhaps we can improve it and increase its scope."
Shin and the Peace Corps\' University of Virginia recruiter, Eileen Conoboy, will be talking to UVA students through a variety of venues about overseas volunteer opportunities and how students can apply.
Today,more than 7,000 Peace Corps volunteers—238 of them Virginia natives—are working in 78 countries to bring clean water to communities, teach children, protect the environment, help start new businesses, and prevent the spread of AIDS. Since 1961, more than 155,000 Americans have joined the Peace Corps and served in 134 countries.

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