Yakiniku Dragon as Prophecy and Reflection

Abstract

The admiration of Korean critics for Yakiniku Dragon, a play about a Zainichi (Koreans in Japan) family, prevents an accurate interpretation of the play. This excess praise stems from the mixed emotions Korean people feel for the Zainichi. Mixed emotions, in which anger and love, disappointment and affection are superimposed, originate from a history of an absent father figure and influence the characters’ background. Without a real paternal figure, the son, Tokio, experiences mutism from unconscious anger towards his father, Yonggil, which eventually leads to the young man’s suicide. The ending suggests a resolution and an end to the bondage of these mixed, contradictory emotions. The second diaspora of the three daughters scattered to South Korea, North Korea, and Japan represents the possibility of the family’s happiness which the audience was all too ready to accept. As a literary prophecy, Yakiniku Dragon offers us a way to achieve peace in Northeast Asia.