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Monash University Korean Studies Research Hub (MUKSRH) presents:

 

Monash Beyond Borders Korean Studies Seminar Series 2025

'The Effects on a Lifetime – The Life Force of 5.18'

David L. Dolinger, Ph.D

 

via ZOOM 

25th September 2025, 3pm AEST (Melbourne time)

 

Bio

Graduating from college with a B.S. in Chemistry and Biology, David had little direction or understanding of where his life would go. But he knew that he wanted to contribute, to make a difference. This led to the Peace Corps and south Korea. From April 1978 onwards he found himself in south Korea. David was sent to rural Jeollanam Province, Yeongam County where he worked as a tuberculosis case worker in the county health centre. He spent most of his free in his beloved Wolchulsan, hiking and climbing. Then life started to get interesting, starting in October of 1979 and the spring of 1980. He found himself in the middle of the turbulent events of Gwangju. He and other Peace Corps volunteers refused the orders of the U.S. Embassy to leave the city, wanting to stay, witness what was happening, help as they could. Because of the life decision that he had he was summarily dismissed form the Peace Corps. But he has not regretted the decisions that were made at that time, they have helped to lead him to where he is today and has help to strengthen the decisions he has made and things that he has been willing to stand up and fight for. During his time as a Peace Corps volunteer, he developed tuberculosis, and it made him realized that proper diagnostics were the key foundation of good healthcare regardless of socio-economic status or where one was in the world. Returning home, David received his Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from Temple University School of Medicine and has since focused his career on in vitro diagnostics (IVDs) and medical devices (MDs). Through his career he has developed and commercialized innovative and impactful assays for infectious disease (e.g. HIV, HCV, tuberculosis, etc.), but always with a focus on neglected diseases, and solutions that focus on the individual and the pathway that they must follow to regain their health. This approach as lead to major paradigm shifts in diagnostics for HIV and tuberculosis. In addition to a fulfilling life in diagnostics he has had time to have a family, travel the world, travel back to and reconnect with Korea. In addition to his many adventures, scientific publication he has publish his first autobiographical book which provides insight into what he witnessed, the people he met and what he did in Gwangju during those turbulent times in May of 1980.

 

Abstract

I can’t say that any of us, foreigners who were in Kwangju in May of 1980, had any idea as to what we were witnessing, what we would do, how our lives would end up. I can only say that I have tried to take my live one day at a time, on my terms but have let my experiences from May of 1980 help to guide me down my path. Being there, witnessing the violence, the bravery, the sacrifices have long term affects on a young impressionable mind. I was twenty-four years of age, very young and very naïve compared to the other twenty somethings that I would meet over those days in May. At that time, I was living in Yeongam, about an hour’s bus ride southwest of Kwangju, I was a resident of Chollanam Do, I was affected by those around me. During the spring of 1980 I witnessed aspects leading up to 5.18. I felt people’s hope, despair and fear but I also felt a deeper drive, a force. I witnessed the hope on Friday the 16th, the aftermath of the 18th. We had no idea on the 18th and 19th what was going to follow, I went back to Yeongam, I had a job, I had individuals with TB that I need to attend to. But I made the decision to return to Kwangju on Wednesday May 21st, Buddha’s birthday. Without bus service and the ability to pay the hefty taxi fees I walked back into Kwangju. Later, I and other Peace Corps volunteers made the key decision not to leave even when ordered by the U.S. Peace Corps and U.S. Embassy. In the intervening days prior to the military re-invading the city I was in constant contact with the citizen and student leaders, spent time in the Provincial Office building, I was the only foreigner to have free entry into the Provencial Office building. I translated for foreign journalist, visiting hospitals, did what I thought could help. At time it was just listening to people, listening to their stories. Following the re-invasion of the city, we Peace Corps volunteers were removed from the city. I was forced to resign from the Peace Corps and was told that I should immediately leave the country as I could no longer be protected by the U.S. Embassy and that the Korea government had threatened my life. I did not leave, I stayed, I became more involved. Kwangju opened my eyes, I view it as the city of my birth, as a human. The pain has stayed with me every day, but it has also provided a mindset of never accepting no, or it is not possible, as an answer. For me personally it has allowed me to approach my career in multiple different directions and with a viewpoint which others do not have nor can provide. But there are questions that I ask everyday of myself, can I do more, could I have done more, have I done enough, how can I ensure that truth is disclosed, how can I educate others. I never want to forget the pain, the emotions, the memories of what occurred during 5.18. I also want others to know the story of 5.18, how some people lived their all too short lives, how they were willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good.