From left, German journalist Jurgen Hinzpeter and his assistant Henning Rumohr, and Peace Corps Volunteers Judi Chamberlin, Tim Warnberg, Paul Courtright and David Dolinger / Courtesy of Paul Courtright
Paul Courtright is back in Korea, and although he has revisited the country many times since his first time here as a Peace Corps Volunteer 45 years ago, there have been some significant developments since the last time he was here in October 2024.
A couple months after that visit, President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law.
"My first reaction to hearing about Yoon’s martial law declaration was of shock," Courtright told The Korea Times. "Was this going to be a reenactment of 1980?"
Courtright is no stranger to such crises, as he received more than his fair share of experience while living in South Jeolla Province from 1979 to 1981.
In his first year, the strongman leader of the country, Park Chung-hee, was assassinated on Oct. 26, 1979. A short time after, on Dec. 12, Maj. Gen. Chun Doo-hwan seized control of the military in a violent coup and spent the next few months amassing power.
Students protested across the nation, but it was in Gwangju, then the capital of South Jeolla Province, where the situation became especially violent on May 18, 1980.
Courtright arrived by bus in Gwangju the following day, dispatched to help transfer two patients to a hospital in Suncheon. He said that shortly after he arrived, he witnessed two soldiers attack a young man, beating him viciously.
After completing his duties, Courtright returned to Gwangju the following day. He stayed there until May 25, when he hiked out over the mountains to get past the military forces besieging the city.
He hoped to reach the U.S. Embassy to tell them what was really happening in Gwangju, but no one at the embassy was willing to listen.
Source: Korea Times News
