Harkjoon Paik came to the United States from South Korea as a teenager, without his parents, speaking almost no English. Yet his optimistic attitude and willingness to learn took Paik from Monterey High School to Monterey Peninsula College, where he won a national speech contest that earned him a Lions Club scholarship that covered two years’ tuition at Stanford and launched his career. After continuing on to Stanford Law School and practicing throughout California, Paik became, at the age of 38, the first native-born Korean to become a superior court judge in U.S. history.
Harkjoon Paik, ’58, JD ’61, died September 23 at his home in Carmel Valley, Calif. He was 79.
Born in Seoul, Paik became separated from his family as the Korean War raged. At 15, he was reunited with his parents, whose home had been destroyed along with his father’s medical clinic. The family sent him to Monterey, Calif., where his brother was teaching at the Defense Language Institute.
Later, after graduating from Stanford, Paik was hired by the U.S. Department of Justice in Los Angeles to work in its antitrust division. But he preferred the courtroom and left to become a deputy public defender in Los Angeles County. He took a similar position in Ventura County and, in 1969, was hired as Monterey County’s first public defender, assembling a team of talented attorneys and several future judges. In 1975, Gov. Jerry Brown appointed Paik to the superior court, where he would preside over many high-profile cases and serve as associate justice pro-tem of the California Supreme Court. He built a reputation for being exacting yet fair, as well as for having a dry wit, both inside and outside the courtroom. He also co-authored a litigation manual for state judges.
After retiring in 1997, Paik worked as an independent mediator for 15 years.
According to an obituary in the Salinas Californian, Paik faced racism in his career, including interviewing at one law firm that expressed interest in hiring him if he was open to changing his name from Harkjoon to Harry. He wasn’t.
Paik and his wife, Beverly (Johnson, ’59, MA ’60), met at Stanford. Frank Dice, whom Paik hired at the Monterey County Public Defender's Office, says his former boss was among the smartest people he’s known, adding, “I think Beverly was even smarter than Harkjoon!” In 2001, she wrote Tracking the Tiger: The Story of Harkjoon Paik, an account of how her husband survived the chaos of war and immigration, and a story of love, hope and triumph over adversity.
“Harkjoon was very dedicated to his family,” Beverly says, “but he had a strong sense of obligation to his profession. He couldn’t help but be a representative of Korea in this country, working to create a positive image.”
In addition to his wife, Paik is survived by his children, Christopher, Lisa Paik Ballantine, ’88, and Randy; two grandchildren; and two siblings.
Julie Muller Mitchell, '79, is a writer in San Francisco.
