'Witnessing Gwangju' author compares 5.18 to Yoon's martial law

“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

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