Recording the Hidden Lives of Zainichi Koreans: 'Yakiniku Dragon' Returns
Creatrip Team
4 months ago
Jung Eui-shin, a 2.5-generation Zainichi (Korean resident in Japan) playwright-director, brings his acclaimed play 'Yakiniku Dragon' back to Seoul for a nine-day run at the Seoul Arts Center starting the 14th. First staged in 2008 and revived in 2011, the play portrays a 1970s Kansai neighborhood centered on a small gastropub selling grilled offal and yakiniku (Korean-style barbecue), where a war-wounded father, his new wife, and their children struggle against poverty and discrimination. Jung explains the work is driven by his own minority experience and a desire to document lives being erased as Zainichi numbers shrink and assimilation increases. The production blends humor and pathos, features Korean, Japanese, and Zainichi actors, and uses immersive staging—actors and musicians greet the audience with food aromas to recreate the eatery atmosphere. Jung argues diaspora stories are resonating globally now because of contemporary anxieties about war, displacement, and belonging.
