Inter view by Arlo Matisz
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Witness to May 18: Dr. Paul Courtright
In 1979, a young Paul Courtright found himself in Korea, working as a Peace Corps volunteer just outside of Gwangju. His work-related travel took him through Gwangju in the early days of the Gwangju Uprising in 1980, later to be known as the Gwangju May 18 Democratization Movement. Eager to witness more of what was unfolding in the city, Paul bicycled back into Gwangju, where he was astonished at what was transpiring before his eyes! Forty years later, when Paul was now Dr. Courtright, he recorded his May 18 experiences in his book, Witnessing Gwangju. In advance of his planned visit to Gwangju, the Gwangju News was fortunate to be able to conduct this interview with Dr. Paul Courtright. — Ed.
Dr. Courtright: I finished university in the U.S. in 1978, and I knew that I wanted to return overseas. I had spent part of my youth overseas because of my father’s work in Iran, Taiwan, and Australia, and I figured that, ultimately, my career would be outside of the U.S. The Peace Corps seemed to be a natural fit for me. When the Peace Corps offered me Korea and work in leprosy, I said “yes.” I knew nothing about leprosy, but after years of living in Taiwan and studying Chinese, I felt that I wanted to be somewhere in East Asia. I was particularly keen to learn a new language and a new culture, and so, Korea was a perfect choice.
I lived and worked in Hohyewon until October 1980; my father had passed away, and I returned to the U.S. for a brief period. There was a new group of Peace Corps volunteers coming in, and I asked one of them to move to my village. When I returned to Korea in December, I started a new project: visiting almost all the leprosy resettlement villages in the country with my Korean coworker to examine people for eye diseases. So, during the remainder of 1980 and until the Peace Corps closed down in late 1981, I was “on the road,” traveling throughout Korea, from village to village, focused on providing eye care.
May 2021
GN: The Peace Corps was the “perfect choice.” So, what type of work did you do during your two years of Peace Corps service? I believe you were stationed in Jeollanamdo for the entirety of you time here.
GN: As you were not based in Gwangju, how is it that you got caught up in the Gwangju Uprising in May of 1980? Can you tell us what you witnessed and what you did upon seeing the violence that was taking place?
Dr. Courtright: After my Peace Corps training, I was assigned to Naju Health Center in Jeonnam. During the first few months in Naju, I realized that there was little to do at the health center itself but a lot to do at the two leprosy resettlement villages, which were at opposite ends of the county. It was difficult to get back and forth between them, even on my bike on the back roads. I made the request to live in the largest village, Hohyewon (호혜원), and my friend Tim Warnberg said that he would provide some support to the other village. I moved in
Dr. Courtright: On May 18, I was hiking near my village. I had no idea about what was happening in Gwangju that day. My village leader told me, when I got back that evening, that “something bad had happened.” The following morning, I was taking two of my patients to the Yeosu Aeyang Hospital for eye surgery, and we changed buses in Gwangju. That was when I first saw what was really going on in Gwangju. I was shocked when I saw a young man being brutally beaten by two soldiers at the bus station. When I came back to Gwangju that evening,
FEATURE
November 1979 to Hohyewon, not far from Nampyeong, which is on the outskirts of Gwangju, so I was in and out of Gwangju frequently. Among other things, it had the closest bathhouse. Gwangju became my “second home.” During this time, I spent most Mondays at the Yeosu Aeyang Hospital (여수 애양병원) learning about the eye complications of leprosy.
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
G
wangju News (GN): Thank you, Dr. Courtright, for agreeing to do this interview with the Gwangju News. You were a young U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in Korea in the 1979–1981 period, part of one of the last groups in the Peace Corps’ fifteen-year history in this country. Can you tell us what motivated you to join the Peace Corps and come to Korea?
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