Paul Courtright (고성철) was a US Peace Corps Volunteer working in leprosy control in South Korea from 1979-81.  In May 1980, during the time of the General Chun Doo-hwan dictatorship, the city of Gwangju erupted in response to a massacre of civilians committed by the military government. That started a weeklong period during which the military was evicted from Gwangju and the residents took control of their city.  The tense standoff came to an end when the military moved back in, crushing remaining resistance. The uprising became known as “5.18” in recognition of the date of the military massacre.  Paul was one of only a handful of foreigners to witness 5.18 and his book, Witnessing Gwangju (Korean translation 푸른눈의증인) is the first memoir written by foreign witness to 5.18.

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After almost 4 years in Korea, Paul returned to the US for graduate school in public health, obtaining a Doctorate in Public Health in Epidemiology from the University of California, Berkeley. He spent over twenty years living and working in different countries in eastern and southern Africa as an ocular epidemiologist. He and his wife, Susan Lewallen founded the Kilimanjaro Centre for Community Ophthalmology in Moshi, Tanzania. He has published over 250 scientific articles and received awards recognizing his work in prevention of blindness in sub-Saharan Africa. 

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In the last 30 years, South Korea has become a vibrant democracy and the events of 5.18 are recognized as the foundation of its success.

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Paul Courtright can be contacted at pcourtright@kcco.net