South Korea Current Issues

Embassy Signs MOU With Korean NGOs

From left: LEE In Ha (President of KCV), Don Q. Washington (Acting Deputy Chief of Mission, U.S. Embassy), and PARK Seung Nam (President of KYLA)

The U.S. Embassy is pleased to announce its decision to award block grants of $30,000 and $25,000 to Korea Council of Volunteering (KCV) and Korea Youth Leaders Association (KYLA), respectively, to promote youth volunteerism in Korea. KCV and KYLA will, in turn, solicit proposals from and award small, individual grants to Korean youths, ages 14-22, in partnership with the U.S. Embassy, Seoul. All three parties signed Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) to commemorate the beginning of the "2005 Small Grants Program to Promote Youth Volunteerism" on Monday, July 25, 11:30 a.m., in the Information Resource Center, U.S. Embassy. This event was open for press coverage.

During the press briefing, Mr. PARK of KYLA said his organization would provide additional funds to make this NGO program between the U.S. Embassy and Korean youth a success and to continue the program into the future. Mr. LEE of KCV, stating the ROKG recently passed a law promoting youth volunteerism in Korea, emphasized the timeliness of the Embassy grant. Representatives of both organizations stressed that this program will contribute to building stronger relations between the United States and the Republic of Korea