Inner workings of Gwangju Uprising revealed in ex-Peace Corps volunteer's book

An image taken by David Dolinger on the side of the road leading from Naju to Gwangju. The trucks are filled with student activists. The taxi pulled over, and a passenger in military fatigues threatened Dolinger for taking the picture. / Courtesy of David

By Jon Dunbar

It's been over 40 years, and people's testimonies about the 1980 democratic uprising in Gwangju ― often referred to as 5.18 ― are still coming out.

David Dolinger delivers his harrowing eyewitness account of the citizens' movement and the military government's lethal response, in a new book, "Called by Another Name," published by Goggas World. Dolinger was one of a handful of U.S. Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) present in Gwangju for most of the 10-day-long uprising. His memories include a tense encounter with a government agent at the side of the highway on his hike in to Gwangju, rubbing shoulders with the activist leaders and then returning after the military moved in to see the bloody aftermath. His association with the uprising leadership resulted in his expulsion from the Peace Corps.

The cover of "Called by Another Name" by David Dolinger / Courtesy of Goggas

"David's experiences in May 1980 differ from other foreign witnesses in that he befriended the student leaders who had taken charge in the provincial capital and were leading Gwangju's defense, and so got a first-hand, behind-the-scenes glimpse at how they were carrying out these operations," said Matt VanVolkenburg, a historian and Korea Times columnist who co-authored the book.

"As well, unlike other accounts by foreign witnesses, he describes events before and after the uprising, including his Peace Corps training and fieldwork, and his involvement with Korean dissidents."

The book is divided into roughly four parts, although it starts off in media res within the activist headquarters inside the South Jeolla Provincial Government building, as Dolinger and others monitor radio communication.

But then Dolinger cuts back to the beginning, explaining his entry into and training for the Peace Corps and being sent to Korea in 1978. He worked as a tuberculosis control worker at a health center in Yeongam, located about 50 kilometers southwest of Gwangju, and he was given the Korean name Im Dae-oon, which is the reason for the book's title. He also documents his friendships with other PCVs and trips to other cities, including Gwangju. It's an interesting account of life in southwestern Korea in those days, and sometimes it's easy to forget what's inevitably coming.

David Dolinger, author of "Called by Another Name" / Courtesy of Goggas

The second part of the story focuses on the uprising itself. Dolinger actually passed through Gwangju on May 18 when the uprising started. After returning to Yeongam, he heard ever-worsening accounts of the situation unfolding in Gwangju. Worried about his friends, he returned to the city on May 21. While walking on the road from Naju to Gwangju, he photographed a procession of vehicles passing by, including military trucks crowded with young activists and a taxi. The taxi stopped and a passenger dressed in fatigues tried to confiscate Dolinger's camera.

He made it to Gwangju, where he met up with fellow PCVs including Tim Warnberg, who lived in the city, and Paul Courtright, who published his own 5.18 memoir, "Witnessing Gwangju," last year. They took it as their job to witness what was happening there and aid foreign reporters in the city with language interpretation and other assistance.

He describes the resilience of citizens who united against the indiscriminate violence of the military, but he also points out internal conflicts, such as tension between moderate citizens who wanted to disarm, and the more radical members who feared the military would show them no mercy. After the military moved in, he returned to the scene, only to be allowed to wander around and see the bodies of the fallen activists before they could be removed from the government building.

"As I reached the second floor, I saw a half-burnt body lying in the second-story window well. I recognized him as the student spokesperson who I had first met on Friday night," he wrote. "I counted nine bodies, but I didn't get a chance to look around the entire building."

David Dolinger, author of "Called by Another Name" / Courtesy of Goggas

The story continues with the PCVs' return to Seoul, where their reports fell on deaf ears, and Dolinger was kicked out of the Peace Corps for violating its rules on political noninterference ― perhaps rightfully, but if the Peace Corps leadership had known the full story, one can't help but think they would have treated him very differently. Instead of leaving the country, Dolinger found new work and managed to stick around. During that time, he networked with underground dissidents, including Galilee Church where he met then-jailed pastor Moon Ik-hwan's wife and poet Kim Ji-ha's mother. "That was when I realized the women of Korea were its true strength," Dolinger wrote.

The final section of the book is dedicated to Tim Warnberg, the PCV living in Gwangju who had witnessed the uprising from its very beginning on May 18. Sadly, Warnberg passed away in 1993 before getting the chance to give a full account of the atrocities he witnessed.

Goggas World is holding a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for the book, which is set to be published early next year. The hope is to raise $5,000 in order to secure the rights to publish additional copyrighted materials such as visual and academic content. Supporters are rewarded with various gifts depending on their level of donation, including paperback and digital copies of the book, an invitation to an online book talk, a personalized Korean stamp, and an e-book authored by VanVolkenburg, including an eyewitness account of 5.18 by an American missionary, an analysis of U.S. TV news coverage of the event and a study of the U.S. role in the uprising and a bibliography of almost every English-language source published on the uprising. Backers' names will also be published in the books.