U.S. Peace Corps to Launch English-Language Program in Vietnam

The United States and Vietnam on May 24 signed an agreement allowing the U.S.’s Peace Corps to work in the country for the first time, state media reported. The signing, which came amid a historic three-day visit by President Barack Obama, follows more than a decade of negotiations between the two countries to establish a Peace Corps operation in Vietnam. The program, which is expected to begin over the next two years, allows Peace Corps volunteers to teach English in schools in the country’s two largest cities, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, said Peace Corps Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet, who signed the agreement with Vietnam’s ambassador to the United States, Pham Quang Vinh. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who was present for the signing, said the agreement marked a further normalizing of relations between the United States and Vietnam. (nld.com.vn May 24)