LOLA Issue Five

Seoul’s Drag Queens
Dispatches
Hell Joseon
Coined in the early 2010s, this satirical term is
used by young Koreans to criticise the current
socio-economic landscape. It is specifically used
when discussing unemployment and poor working
conditions, including the harsh treatment of
workers due to Confucianism and greed.
Above: Nix above the lights of Seoul.
Below: Mikju strikes a pose in a giant
eyeball headpiece.
Diamant and Vita Mikju, both of whom have performed
with Kim Chi and Violet Chachki of RuPaul’s Drag Race
fame, and have starred in the video for Korean–American
rapper Dumbfoundead’s debut single, ‘Hyung’. They relax
and chat with friends as they wait to share their knowledge
with the gathered drag enthusiasts. Vita Mikju, a queen
who started in ‘boylesque’ and is also a skilled pole dancer,
will run a dance workshop. After this, Kuciia will give a
make up demonstration. These are skills the practiced
queen honed on his own: “I learned a lot through watching
international drag queens, but since the Asian facial structure
is different, in the end it was a lot of trial and error and
finding my own style that works for me.”
The event kicks off with a presentation discussing
different aspects of drag, sex and gender, introducing and
explaining terms such as ‘transgender’, ‘drag king’ and
‘bio queen’. The workshop has been put together by Geum
Hye-ji, the creator of the Facebook page ‘서울드랙’ (‘Seoul
Drag’) and passionate fan of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Though
Drag Race played a large part in Hye-ji’s passion, the young
organiser, media blogger and PR manager was initially
inspired by a cisgendered woman dressed in drag at Seoul’s
Queer Culture Festival. When asked about her attraction
to the craft, she says that she is hugely influenced by drag
queens and the whole concept of being able to transform
yourself. “As a Korean woman, I was really uptight about
how I look, and I have a lot of complexes about my appearance,”
she admits. With drag, she adds, she saw an alternative
to this attitude: “You just do whatever you want to with
make up or padding. I thought, maybe that can work for me.
I can act like a drag queen and, even though I’m not that
beautiful, I can be pretty and sexy. That idea was really attractive.
A person can turn themselves into someone else.”
Autumn/Winter 2017
37