Mislabeled historical facts, mistranslated cultural terms and distorted narratives circulating abroad have long posed a challenge for Korea’s global image. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism took a major step Thursday toward setting the record straight, officially launching the 21st batch of "Friends of Korea" — a specialized civilian volunteer corps dedicated to tracking down and correcting overseas misinformation. The kickoff ceremony took place at the KOCIS Center, located on the 10th floor of the Korea Press Center in central Seoul, welcoming both in-person participants and overseas members joining virtually. Established in 2013 under the initial title "Global Monitoring Group for Error Correction," the Friends of Korea program has evolved into a vital civilian outreach campaign. Over the past decade, more than 780 dedicated volunteers have scoured both online and offline platforms worldwide to safeguard the accuracy of Korean history, language and culture. Whenever inaccuracies are identified, members report them through the government’s dedicated portal, "Facts Abo