Nov 5, 2026
It may come as a shock to many these days that the Peace Corps once had a mission in Korea. The U.S. volunteer agency sent more than 2,000 young volunteers to Korea between 1966 and 1981 in 51 waves, from K-1 to K-51. The country they arrived in was very different from the advanced nation Korea has grown to become. Coming out of the 1910-45 Japanese occupation and 1950-53 Korean War, Korea was for decades one of the poorest nations in the world. In the mid-1960s, when Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) began arriving, Korea's hills were barren, and the gutters were filled with human waste. The authoritarian government maintained a strict curfew, barring people from the streets from midnight to 4 a.m. “My first impression was ‘My god, what have I got myself into?’” Ed Klein (K-1) said in 2016. “It was the way it was,” David McCann (K-1) said in 2019, “and that didn't strike me as strange.” U.S. President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps in 1961 with an executive order. It was designed to serve three main goals: helping various countries meet their need for trained me
For many foreign residents, the first few weeks in Seoul can feel almost effortless. The subway works. Convenience stores are everywhere, and there is always another café, restaurant or corner of the city to discover. Then the paperwork begins. An appointment for a residence card. A landlord asking for a deposit that can run into the tens of millions of won. Almost overnight, the experience shifts from exploring Korea to deciphering it. For years, newcomers have leaned on Facebook groups for answers, and learned to sift through thousands of unverified listings and contradictory advice. Now they’re asking a blunter question, often on Reddit: Is this website legit? That was the question Huy Kim Nguyen, better known online as Kim Ninja, kept seeing about Enkostay, a rental platform for foreign residents. Nguyen came to Korea five years ago and began documenting the realities of living in Korea while working as a software developer. His YouTube videos explaining how Enkostay works went viral, drawing more than a million views. "You can't always trust the internet with a pretty website these
MANILA, Philippines—No ticket holder won the ₱87.84-million Super Lotto 6/49 jackpot or the ₱10 million Lotto 6/42 jackpot in the Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026, draws, according to results from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO). The Super Lotto 6/49 draw produced the winning combination 10-46-40-39-04-16, with a jackpot prize of ₱87.84 million. No bettor matched
THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- With less than a month before the International Criminal Court"s (ICC) trial of Rodrigo Duterte, prosecutors are asking for “in-court protective and special measures” for 55 witnesses from the Philippines and abroad from various security risks.
MANILA, Philippines — False claim by columnist Ramon Tulfo that Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez could get in and out of jail highlights the danger of publicizing unverified information, as the detained lawmaker’s legal counsel noted that the damage had already been done before the remarks were retracted. In a statement on Thursday, Romualdez’s lawyer, Ade
US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth said he will “not back down” against a “lame duck” Congress, and that the drives for his impeachment will “not work” in his first reaction after Democrats’ landslide victory in Tuesday’s election. In a video uploaded by the Pentagon on Thursday, Hegseth said that “a disgruntled, defeated congressman, along with all his Democrat allies,” have been submitting bills for his impeachment, resembling that of the similar attempt against US President Donald...
TACLOBAN CITY – At least 21 houses, mostly made of light materials, burned in a fire that hit one of this city’s villages on Thursday morning, Nov. 5. The fire that hit Batangas 42-A in Quarry district started at about 10:10 a.m. READ: Fire engulfs 25 houses in Tacloban village Based on the initial report from
TACLOBAN CITY — From shrimp-filled lumpia and smoked fish to seaweed salad, traditional salt, heirloom coffee and native rice cakes, the culinary treasures of Samar Island may soon find their way onto the tables of one of the Philippines’ most acclaimed restaurants. Hapag MNL, a one-Michelin-star Filipino fine-dining restaurant in Makati City, has explored communities
MANILA, Philippines — Here are INQToday’s top stories for Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026, as of 6 p.m. Associate Justice Rodil Zalameda is new SC chief justice President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has chosen Supreme Court Associate Justice Rodil V. Zalameda to serve as the next chief justice of the Supreme Court, Presidential Communications Office Secretary Lino
A boat in Micronesia went missing in July. This weekend, five of its passengers landed, unclothed and emaciated, on an island in Kiribati — more than 3,000 miles away.
MANILA, Philippines — House Speaker Faustino “Bojie” Dy III pledged to convene the House Appropriations Committee to discuss potential reforms aimed at boosting budgeting transparency, a watchdog representative said on Thursday. Speaking at a media briefing after a meeting with lawmakers, People’s Budget Coalition co-convener Kenneth Abante said he met with Dy on Wednesday evening
The United States has imposed sanctions on two Chinese companies it accuses of supplying equipment and components to Cuba’s military, as Washington intensifies pressure on Havana’s foreign suppliers and expands its authority to target businesses operating on the island. The US State Department said on Thursday that China National Electronic Import and Export Company, or CEIEC, and Beijing H&C Technologies had worked with Cuban arms procurement company Sociedad Mercantil Duna to supply...
