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| Yerong, whose real name is Ko Ye-sung, draws cartoons about the realities of racial discrimination that foreigners in Korea experience in their daily lives. Courtesy of Ko Ye-sung |
By Lee Hyo-jin
Yerong, whose real name is Ko Ye-sung, draws cartoons about the realities of racial discrimination that foreign nationals in Korea encounter in their daily lives.
The 29-year-old cartoonist's minimal drawings ― black and white with only minimum details ― are mainly uploaded on her social media channels. And they are quite popular among foreign residents here who find the stories totally relatable.
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| Cartoonist Yerong, whose real name is Ko Ye-sung / Courtesy of Ko Ye-sung |
After realizing the seriousness of racism that foreigners face here, Ko began to upload the "doodles" based on her own experiences, with a hope that they might bring positive changes.
Her works soon began to win big support from readers in and outside the country. A collection of Ko's cartoons was published into a book titled "A Black person sitting next to you on the subway" in 2019.
Topics of Ko's recent cartoons are not limited only to racism. She now tries to cover discrimination against all socially subordinated groups ― disabled people, sexual minorities, women and so on. She also gets invited to give lectures using her cartoons at schools and education institutions. And her works are used as educational materials for K-pop trainees, as more and more K-pop agencies are realizing the need for such education.
"I don't use color in my cartoons and make the lines as simple as possible, because doodles tend to deliver my messages more effectively than colorful drawings or long words," she said.
Ko viewed that rampant discrimination in Korea based on skin color and country of origin happen mostly due to Koreans' low awareness on racism. While Koreans take great pride in the export of their culture as hallyu, or the Korean wave, they are not used to taking in the cultures of other countries, she said.
She recalled an incident where several high school students wore blackface as Ghanaian pallbearers for their senior yearbook photo last year, which clearly showed a lack of education and awareness on racism.
"Many people didn't even know the meaning of the term blackface. They didn't know why it was wrong, saying that it should not be taken as a big deal as long as the students did not have ill intent," she said, adding that public education needs more lessons on cross-cultural understanding.
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| Ko Ye-sung's cartoon is being used as an educational material during a lecture on cultural appropriation to K-pop trainees in their office in September 2020. Courtesy of Ko Ye-sung |
Ko receives much supportive feedback from her readers. Non-Korean readers living in Korea express gratitude for having an ally at their side calling out racism. As her content is used in human rights education in some schools, students send messages to Ko thanking her for enlightening them on such important issues.
But on the other hand, her cartoons raise the ire of some Koreans, as they often reveal the "dark side" of the country's monoculture.
"I recently get a lot of feedback from people blaming me for shaming the country by making such unpleasant stories public. But instead of pointing their fingers at me, they should confront the realities of racism here and think about ways to eradicate it," Ko said.
She expressed concerns that discrimination against foreigners has deeply worsened amid the COVID-19 pandemic, amid reports of racist behavior including shunning foreigners in public, denying entry to restaurants, bars and cafes, as well as mandatory testing orders for foreigners in some parts of the country.
"In addition to the discrimination in their daily lives, foreign residents had to suffer from the discriminatory measures of the administration," she said, mentioning the recent administrative orders by local governments enforcing mandatory COVID-19 tests on all foreign workers.
Ko, who did not hesitate to raise her voice on the issue through her cartoons, said she will continue to deliver various stories based on communication with the foreign community in Korea and try to reveal new stories that are not covered by the media.
