Korean studies in the United States has grown significantly since 1996 when I began my studies in Korean history as a graduate student. There were few books and scholarly articles about Korea available for the serious student. For example, as an undergraduate, I wanted to write a research paper on Koreans in the Japanese military during World War II, but had to abandon the project because there were no English-language materials on the topic. Fast forward 25 years and there is a plethora of quality studies on that subject.
Peace Corps Volunteers and the Making of Korean Studies in the United States provides an excellent background to explain this growth of Korean studies in the United States. The book is an anthology composed of 11 personal accounts, plus an introduction and an epilogue. Nine of the authors were Peace Corps volunteers in Korea from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s who went on to academia or government service. These are scholars whom everyone in Korean studies will recognize: Don Baker, Donald Clark, Carter J. Eckert, Bruce Fulton, Laurel Kendall, Michael Robinson, and Edward Schultz—and an ambassador to South Korea, Kathleen Stephens. Indeed, as a graduate student, first at Brigham Young University, and then at the University of Hawai‘i, their works formed the canon of Korean studies that my professors assigned as readings in their seminars.
The unifying thread of these chapters is each author discussing how their time in the Peace Corps altered their career trajectory, as well as how their time in South Korea altered their view of Korea, Koreans, and the American government. Most contributors served in the Peace Corps to avoid being drafted during the Vietnam War. And while in Korea, they developed a love of the Korean people, which sparked their interest to pursue a career in academia; many of them went on to study under James B. Palais or Edward W. Wagner.
This collection of essays will evoke nostalgia among those who have a long history with South Korea. The Peace Corps volunteers write of their time in Korea before the onslaught of modernization. Their narratives speak of their experiences during a time when Korea had countless dirt roads, ever-present poverty, silent nighttime streets, and a predominately idyllic agrarian life—all of which contrasted their privileged childhoods in America.
These essays also provide firsthand insight into historical events of the Park Chung-hee and Chun Doo-hwan regimes. For example, Don Baker discusses being in Korea in 1980 during the protests against Chun’s military coup; Baker was able to make his way into the city of Gwangju just days after the uprising there was brutally suppressed by Chun’s regime. And Carter Eckert provides accounts of urban life in Korea under the Park dictatorship in which he and his students confronted surveillance, censorship, and curfews.
Most authors recognize that their American citizenship protected them from the harsh ramifications of government suppression. In consideration of their privileged positions in Korea, many of the essays, particularly Michael Robinson’s, explore the various ways that the Peace Corps was part of American soft power in South Korea. While the Peace Corps was designed to win the hearts of the Korean people, it was nevertheless part of a wider American neo-colonial presence in Korea in which the US-backed authoritarian regimes suppressed the Korean populace. Most authors, such as Edward J. Baker, who went on to work with Amnesty International, also mention their sympathy for the democratization movement.
Several chapters also delve into gender. There are two female contributors who offer a different perspective on what it meant to serve in the Peace Corps. Laurel Kendall examines the patriarchal nature of the Peace Corps, as well as Korean society, which is aptly summarized in the title of her essay, “Did Women Have a Peace Corps-Korea Experience?” Specifically, she notes that the Peace Corps was somewhat of a men’s club, and women were treated as an afterthought. Linda Lewis found herself on the outside of the standard Peace Corps experience as well. In an ironic anecdote, Lewis recalls how she was invited to only about 10 minutes of the welcome luncheon given in her honour because it was mostly a men-only affair. In fact, as current director of the American Friends Service Committee, her male subordinate is invited by Korean hosts to sit at the head table while she is relegated to sitting at the back of the room.
Some chapters delve into academic and historical issues. Don Baker, in light of his experiences in Korea during the Gwangju Uprising, questions the notion of objectivity in writing history. He states that “telling the truth sometimes requires us to refrain from telling the whole truth since it may be too complicated for readers to grasp” (18). Donald Clark addresses the South Korean government’s efforts to exert political influence, through intimidation and enticement, on Korean studies in the United States.
Since the book is partially a collection of reminiscences, its overall tone is engaging and readable; the writing is more fluid than standard academic writing. The only quibble to be had with the book is that the narratives are uneven in their direction and content, rather like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates. Some contributors dwell on their experiences for many pages and offer insight into Korean society, while others focus their narrative on their personal career. Nevertheless, this book will be of interest to those interested in the history of Korean studies in the United States.
Brandon Palmer
Coastal Carolina University, Conway