Korean government honours Quaker

Posthumous award for John Cornes

A Quaker who worked for the Friends Service Unit after the Korean War has been honoured by the government of the Republic of Korea.

John Cornes, of Redland Meeting in Bristol, and formerly of Westminster Meeting, was awarded the Order of Diplomatic Service Merit Heung-In Medal by the Korean government for the service he gave the Korean people in the 1950s. The medal was presented to John’s widow, Jean, by ambassador Park at a ceremony in the Korean embassy on Friday 25 January.

The award was given, the citation states, ‘in recognition of and in appreciation for his outstanding and meritorious service rendered to promoting friendly relations between the Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.’

John and Jean were both part of the Friends Service Unit in Korea from 1954-56. John worked as a doctor and Jean ran a training school for Korean nurse aides in the city of Kunsan.

Korean press and television were at the ceremony, which was filmed and a report shown on Korean television the following day. Jean was interviewed about their work and her memories of their time in Korea.

One of the reasons for this recognition, nearly sixty years after their service, was because John, a keen photographer, at the time took colour slides of everyday Korean life.

John and Jean’s daughter, Ruth Homer, explained: ‘Two years ago John showed his pictures at a talk to the Anglo-Korean Society and, shortly after, was invited to the Korean embassy to show them to staff there.’

Ruth added: ‘There has been great interest in the images as, for many younger Koreans, the images they know from the 1950s are of war, destruction and poverty. John’s pictures show a different Korea – life in the hospital in Kunsan, in the streets, parks and countryside.’

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