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| Australian missionary Dr. James Mackenzie, third from right, and his patients in a clinic in Japan-occupied Korea in 1930 / Courtesy of Kyonggi University Sosung Museum |
By Park Han-sol
In 1910, just months before Korea was annexed by the Japanese Empire, a middle-aged missionary of the Presbyterian Church set foot in the port city of Busan, far away from his homeland of Australia.
At the time James Mackenzie arrived in the country, leprosy was still widely believed to be "the curse of gods." When discovered, the infected were forced to live in isolation and destitution as they became outcasts overnight and their properties were burned to the ground in a misinformed attempt to prevent the spread of the disease.
Upon witnessing this reality, Mackenzie, with his wife Mary Kelly, a nurse, began running the Busan Leper Hospital ― Korea's first medical institution specializing in the treatment of the patients shunned by their own families and townspeople. For nearly three decades, the hospital housed and treated hundreds of lepers before being forcibly shut down in 1941 when Japan went to war with the U.S.
The legacy left by the Mackenzies and their two daughters, Catherine and Helen, who continued their father's mission following the 1950-53 Korean War, will be revisited at the Korean Cultural Centre Australia in Sydney next month.
Titled "Australian Mackenzie Family's Journey in Korea," the show is scheduled to run from April 8 to July 8, featuring an extensive series of photographs and documents left by the family, as well as a short documentary film that altogether trace their instrumental role in providing much-needed medical assistance and training in the southern regions of the Korean Peninsula.
Born in Busan, Catherine and Helen studied medicine in Australia and had a calling to return to the city of their childhood to continue their father's legacy. While initially frustrated by World War II and the outbreak of the Korean War, the two were finally able to make a return in 1952.
That year, the Mackenzie sisters established the Ilsin Women's Hospital, now called Ilsin Christian Hospital, dedicated to maternal and child health. For the next two decades, they offered medical assistance to patients regardless of their economic background and religious faith. The hospital also played a vital role in training female doctors in gynecology and nurses in midwifery.
In recognition of their achievements, the two women were awarded the British Empire Medal during their lifetime as well as the Korean government's Mugunghwa Medal and Mongnyeon Medal.
"While 2021 marked the 60th anniversary of the official establishment of diplomatic relations between Korea and Australia, the Mackenzie family's stories show that the bond shared among the people of the two countries goes back a century," Kim Ji-hee, director of the KCC AU, said in a statement.
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