April 22, 2002 - Korea Herald: The Legacy of the Peace Corps in Korea
Peace Corps Online: Peace Corps News: Peace Corps Library: Reference: Overseas Programs: April 22, 2002 - Korea Herald: The Legacy of the Peace Corps in Korea
By Admin1 (admin) on Tuesday, April 23, 2002 - 10:46 am: Edit Post

The Legacy of the Peace Corps in Korea




Read and comment on this article which appeared in a National newspaper in Korea, the Korea Herald, looking back on the Peace Corps and volunteers like the ones in K-24 shown in the photo above in 1972, and the work they did in Korea. The work they did has left a signficant legacy:

While it has been over 20 years since the Peace Corps left Korea, the legacy has been significant. Coyner credits the program with increasing understanding between ordinary Americans and ordinary Koreans. "The volunteers really raised the understanding of Korea in the United States, and a lot of Koreans got a better understanding of the outside world, at least toward the American side," he says.

According to Jim Larson, who arrived in 1971 as a member of the K-16 group and is now associate director of the Fulbright Commission in Korea, the impact of the Peace Corps on U.S.-Korea relations has been extraordinary. "There couldn't be more than a few thousand in the period from 1966 to 1981, but they have formed the core group of academia and scholarship in relation to Korean studies in the United States," he says. "It's hard to overestimate the impact."
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The toughest job they ever loved*

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The toughest job they ever loved

In 1975 Tom Coyner, a young Peace Corps volunteer stationed in rural Eumseong, North Chungcheong Province, used to walk to and from school to teach class with the town folk glaring at him.

Initially bewildered, the Oregon native who had joined the Peace Corps to escape the recession crippling the U.S economy at the time, later discovered that the people's behavior, while outwardly hostile, merely masked an embarrassed curiosity.

"I realized that it wasn't because they were ticked off but so that they could stare at me without losing their dignity. I had read that this kind of behavior had died out, but it was just that Eumseong was so isolated at the time," says Coyner, who returned to Korea just over a year ago as the sales and marketing manager of ACI's Seoul branch.

Today as he reclines in his comfortable office on the 17th floor of the ultramodern Millennium Building, perhaps the most grandiose symbol of Korea's dramatic economic development, he finds it hard to believe he is in the same country.

He is not alone. Approximately 30 former Peace Corps volunteers have either returned to Korea to pursue their careers or remained here after completing their service. A diverse bunch, but one, Coyner says, that is characterized by individuals of "above-average intelligence and overt eccentricity," who possess an abiding interest in Korea and its culture.

The Peace Corps, John F. Kennedy's bold initiative to promote world peace and friendship, operated in Korea from 1966 to 1981. According to the Peace Corps press office, volunteers taught English at Korean secondary schools and colleges, and helped out in health centers in rural areas in the Tuberculosis Control Program, while also working in tourism projects and Korea 4H (an organization promoting agricultural and rural development) activities. In all, there were a total of 3,290 volunteers in 54 groups.

For the volunteers, many of whom had not even picked Korea as their preferred country in which to serve, life in remote areas of the peninsula where infrastructure was often in its infancy involved experiences of extreme culture shock intensified by receptions from locals that were usually welcoming but could sometimes be marked by suspicion and misunderstanding.



Coyner (shown in the photo above), who served in the K-35 group, which he says was notable for the high proportion of volunteers with Asian Studies degrees, was posted first at Eumseong followed by Okcheon and finally Suwon as an English language instructor.

"In Eumseong, even my Korean co-teachers who were from North Chungcheong Province were considered foreigners if they came from beyond two hours walk from the town," he says. "Okcheon, on the other hand, was on the regional road that went from Seoul to Busan, so they were used to having travelers all the time. It was a rocking town."

Other former volunteers also recall mixed receptions. "I was given the honored-guest treatment by those to whom I was introduced. The average person in the street, however, did not treat the foreigner so kindly, and verbal abuse was common," said David Shaffer, who arrived in Korea in 1971 as part of the K-22 group and now works in the English Department at Chosun University.

One of the central tenets of the Peace Corps has always been immersion and interpersonal exchanges. Many volunteers made friends, becoming to some extent, part of the communities they served in. "There's no secrets in a country town. They knew who you were. They knew you were American. They knew we weren't missionaries and recognized we were here to help. They realized we didn't have much money and what we didn't make in wages we often made up in makgeolli," Coyner says.

K-28 volunteer Billy Cornett, who arrived in 1973 from Elmira, N.Y., agrees although he says there are limits to how much an outsider can truly be accepted. "Koreans realized that the helping foreigners of the military, the missionaries or the Peace Corps brought baggage, which they accepted to a point and kept at arm's length when appropriate."

Cornett, who worked as a medical volunteer in the TB control program in Milyang, South Gyeongsang Province, says it is difficult to fathom the changes that have occurred in Korea over the last 30 years. "It's hard to explain to people who didn't live the 'Miracle on the Han' about the changes that have taken place. So many places in America or Europe haven't changed for so many years. It is difficult to imagine the development of 100 years taking place in a matter of 30."

Coyner, meanwhile, says physically the country has been transformed. "I'm not a particularly big Park Chung-hee fan, but I give him big points for reforestation. It was just starting to get green when I arrived, but prior to that it was dusty and often muddy. Now it's a beautiful place."

While it has been over 20 years since the Peace Corps left Korea, the legacy has been significant. Coyner credits the program with increasing understanding between ordinary Americans and ordinary Koreans. "The volunteers really raised the understanding of Korea in the United States, and a lot of Koreans got a better understanding of the outside world, at least toward the American side," he says.

According to Jim Larson, who arrived in 1971 as a member of the K-16 group and is now associate director of the Fulbright Commission in Korea, the impact of the Peace Corps on U.S.-Korea relations has been extraordinary. "There couldn't be more than a few thousand in the period from 1966 to 1981, but they have formed the core group of academia and scholarship in relation to Korean studies in the United States," he says. "It's hard to overestimate the impact."

While contact among those who have stayed or returned is loose and informal, there remains a natural affinity. "There's a remarkable commonality that builds the infrastructure for friendships. There's a number of people I have a special or kind regard for because they were Peace Corps volunteers, and often we did have shared experiences years and years ago," Coyner says.

Reasons for staying or returning vary widely. David Shaffer says he enjoyed his job here and after getting married found it harder to pack up and move on, while for Billy Cornett Korea was a good place to bring up a family.

Jim Larson, who first returned in 1985 to lecture as a Fulbright scholar at Yonsei University before settling permanently in 1996, says, "With the Peace Corps, a few guys got hooked on Korean culture. I left Korea and went to grad school, but my interests in grad school were shaped by my time here. Quite a bit of my research reflected my interest in Korea as well."

Most volunteers look back fondly on their time in the Peace Corps and are grateful for the opportunities which Korea has given them. Cornett says, "It was the Peace Corps that got me here, but it was the people and the chance to ride the wave that helped keep me here."

Meanwhile, Coyner, who almost quit after 12 weeks, says in hindsight that he is glad he persevered.

"I appreciate the Peace Corps now that it's behind me. When you put enough time behind you to put things in perspective, you appreciate it much more."

Living comfortably in the Anguk area of central Seoul with his Korean wife whom he met as a volunteer over 25 years ago, Coyner feels at home in the country Korea has become. "These days I walk to work every day puffing on a cigar. It's great."

(bjhoty@hotmail.com)

By Ben Jhoty Staff reporter

2002.04.22


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