KDrama: Deconstructing or Socially Constructing Disability?

In 2013, South Korea reported its autism rate 2.6% amongst a target population of 7 to 12 years old children, the highest reported rate in in the world.

Yet, even with such a prevalent demographic of individuals on the Autism Spectrum, the global Disability Rights Movement that has been deconstructing stigmas around Autism and IDDs (Intellectual and Developmental Disorders) has yet to penetrate the mainstream conceptions of disability in South Korea. A 2011 study showed that “...Koreans consider autism to be a stigmatizing hereditary disorder.” South Korean families who have relatives with autism (chap’ae, 자폐) are often leave them untreated and/or unreported in governmental records in order to protect the family’s reputation. As a result, the South Korean government still has yet to reform its welfare policies towards the disabled and false understandings of disability has led to the illegal exploitation of individuals with mental disabilities. Even with reports of blatant human rights violations of individuals with disabilities, Disability Advocacy in South Korea has been puzzlingly quiet.

That is, until one highly unexpected actor in the Korean society decided to take on the reconstruction of disability: Korean Dramas.

Since its launch in the 1960s, Korean Dramas have dominated Korean culture and often aim to reflect modern and historical societal qualms between different Korean demographic groups. Through dramatic and comical plots, Korean Dramas often leave their viewers with insights on societal issues that may indirectly reform societal behavior.

Although with much criticism by international disability advocates, the Korean Drama industry in South Korea has been diligent in integrating characters with intellectual and developmental disorders in their recent shows.

For example, the hit 2014 Korean Drama, “Good Doctor” features a character(played by Joo Won) named Park Shi-On, who is discovered to have Asperger’s Syndrome--a disorder that entails (but not limited to) genius-level memory and keen spatial skills--as a child. He enters the field of pediatric surgery as a resident. However, because of his disorder, he’s extremely socially inept. He is given 6 months to prove himself capable of adapting to the social scene of the pediatric division of the hospital and to overcome the social stigmas surrounding his disorder. Although the nature of the drama made the likelihood of a similar real-life situation that much more fantasy-like, the ending of this drama promoted the inclusion of individuals with developmental disorders in the workforce. Furthermore, critics have praised this drama for its reconstruction of the stigma that people with disability are unable to participate in romantic relations and promotion for socially integrative learning methods. However, it reinforced the conception that rehabilitation and extensive social therapy are the only means for society to accommodate individuals with disabilities. It lost the opportunity to emphasize the need for special education reform in order to encourage more students with intellectual and developmental disorders to pursue higher education in order to secure higher paying jobs.

Another well-perceived Korean Drama, “God’s Gift-14 Days” (2014), also portrays characters with developmental disorders. Although these characters were supporting characters, they depicted disability in an entirely different light than in “Good Doctor”. Ki Young-gyu (played by Baro) is a close friend of the main character who has a developmental disorder. He tries to save the main character from the kidnapper, but ultimately fails. Through this character, the limitations of disability are exhumed--physical incapabilities (to stop the perpetrator), mental incapabilities (to process the event), and the inability to fully testify under investigation (due to the liability of the developmental age of the individual, which is 6 years old in Ki Young-gyu’s case). However, Ki Young-gyu is perceived as a fiercely loyal and loving friend, which helped to diminish the stigma that individuals with developmental disorders are dangerous and incapable of human relations. The other is Ki Dong-ho (played by Jung Eun-pyo), who is convicted of murder without being able to defend himself due to the court’s inability to legitimize his testimony because of his developmental disability. Although there wasn’t much character development of this character, a very concerning matter was depicted through him--the dire need to reform the Criminal Justice system to recognize the rights of individuals with developmental disorders and the need to reconstruct the Korean culture that often scapegoats the disabled.

Other recent Korean Dramas, such as the horror-thriller, “The Village: Achiara’s Secret” (2015), depict supporting characters with developmental and intellectual disorders that serve to exhume societal stigmas and reconstruct them. Although how these dramas are constructing the social perception of disability is up to controversy within the Disability community--one thing cannot be disputed, the challenges of individuals with disabilities are being exposed to the general population, especially within a culture so saturated in the stigma of shame and disgust around disability.

What do you think? Are Korean Dramas doing more harm than good? What are some pros and cons to portraying characters with disability in these dramas?

#Korea #Drama #Social #KDrama