Itaewon Class Is in a Class of Its Own

Anyone watching Itaewon Class episodes 11 and 12 would be hard pressed not to feel the struggles of two somewhat unlikely primary character types in this popular drama. Showing on Netflix, Itaewon Class, the drama adaptation of its popular webtoon by Kwang Jin, has been JTBC’s highest rated drama since Sky Castle. The story in a capsule is about a wronged student who becomes an ex-con who perseveres through hardships to gain success in Korea’s pub chain business with the help of the team, the “class.” Though not the first time there has been a person of African descent or an LGBTQ+ character in a Korean drama, it has to be one of the few times the characters are so seamlessly incorporated into the main cast, with storylines that flow so well with the overarching storyline. This show thus far has shown that it’s completely possible to weave these experiences into a storyline in a way that takes nothing away, only enhances. Be forewarned, this contains spoilers.

Itaewon is located close to the headquarters for U.S. military forces stationed in South Korea (until 2018), and thus received a lot of Western influence from the profusion of the Western military. This was reflected in 2011 when JYP and Yoo Seyoon released the song “Itaewon Freedom,” which reflects on the reputation of Itaewon as a location unbound by the norms of Korean conservative culture. Thus the location makes the perfect backdrop to this story for the incorporation of the ideas of race and sex. From the second episode, where Itaewon is introduced, Park Saeroyi (Park Seojoon) finds Itaewon and buys a bar with a cameo from Hong Seokcheon, who plays himself—an openly gay actor who is also a restaurateur. From this point, we know that the director is not afraid to touch on this background.

As the team of DanBam (Park Saeroyi’s restaurant) unfolds, we meet the team composed of his prison buddy Seungkwon (Ryu Kyungsoo), who is also an ex-gang member playing the part of a server, a transgender chef in Hyunyi (Lee Jooyoung), a young genius manager in Yiseo (Kim Dami), a cut-off chaebol of their rival Geunsoo (Kim Donghee), and Tony (Chris Lyon) a half-Korean/Guinean server.

from Chris Lyon’s Instagram (@chrislyonsf)

Tony’s character is a half Korean/African man who is hired because Yiseo thinks he speaks English as he’s visually foreign. Tony proclaims again and again that he’s Korean and that his father is Korean, which seems to fall on deaf ears until Western clients come to the pub and the staff looks to him to serve them as the English speaker. Tony, who hasn’t hidden anything about his identity, proclaims again that he’s Korean and that he doesn’t speak English at all, but rather French as coming from Guinea. Yiseo thinks Tony should be fired and proclaims that if he isn’t a Korean legally, then he’s not Korean no matter his ethnicity. But by this time he’s already become part of Saeroyi’s team, and it becomes clear in this drama that Saeroyi holds onto “his” people as much as he can. When the team decides to go to a club, the bouncer discriminates against Tony, denying him entry, causing Yiseo and Saeroyi to come to his defense in different ways, exposing the hate and racism against him while securing their relationship with Tony.

Korea itself is still coming to terms with the international world. With a community that is roughly 96% ethnically Korean, they’ve been slow to embrace the multicultural world; racism is hardest with those of Southeast Asian and African descent. Though the younger generations are more used to varied faces, the older generation has a harder time embracing other backgrounds. So seeing a man of African descent as a non-English speaking half-Korean who must claim again and again that he is Korean is a position that half-Koreans of dark skin in Korea can easily relate to. Further, Tony has come to Korea to look for his Korean father and cannot establish himself as a Korean national until his father can verify his identity. We come to find in episode 10 that the old woman who has been critiquing the venues in the area of the pub is actually his grandmother, who opposed the marriage of her son to a Guinean woman. The warm embrace after she asked for his forgiveness is heartwarming. Familial relations between more cultures, though sometimes shown in shows, is rarely as prominent as featured here.

from Lee Joo-Young’s Instagram (@i_icaruswalks)

In an earlier episode, Hyunyi is exposed to the team as a transgender woman when Seungkwon comes to a club for the first time and unknowingly hits on her. The show does not showcase only acceptance. Yiseo proclaims that this will be an issue and she should be fired, echoing what many in the mainstream Korean population would think. South Korea’s public is still highly conservative in regards to LGBTQ+ rights, which the BBC reported on last September stating, “In South Korea, being LGBTQ+ is often seen as a disability or a mental illness, or by powerful conservative churches as a sin. There are no anti-discrimination laws in the country.” The fight for LGBTQ+ rights is a current struggle. Last November, an amendment was proposed to remove “sexual orientation” from the National Human Rights Commission of Korean (NHRCK) mandate, per the Human Rights Watch 11/27/19 article. To be able to surgically change sex, one has to be above 20, single, without children and have served or been exempted from military duty. Yiseo and the team grow to accept Hyunyi, who undergoes surgery in the drama and comes to recognition on TV, representing DanBam in a pub cooking contest. At the end of episode 12, she’s exposed to the world as a transgender. Hateful rumors circulate about her having plastic surgery on her face as well as her body, and she hides in shame from the exposure. But in DanBan style, Yiseo, who was once her critic, comes to her aid through a poem about individual strength as a rock which becomes a diamond and we cheer on Hyunyi as she confidently comes out of her shell to shine.

Within these storylines the drama is not afraid to subtly critique Koreans nationals. In one scene when Yiseo runs away from Geunwon (Ahn Bohyun), she falls before being attacked and tells Geunwon (the enemy who had self-incriminated himself) that they’re in Itaewon and that it’s full of foreigners willing to help, subtly suggesting that in areas where there are predominately natives, they’re less likely to lend a hand. In fact, foreigners do help her and keep Geunwon from getting away. The negative speculation about Hyunyi and the assumption that she’d be too ashamed to present herself also shows the fear and discrimination expected against transgendered individuals. The racial profiling of Tony as an English speaker and then exposing the racism against him at the club is also critiquing racism in Korea. But within every instance, the characters themselves show that there is hope against hate. This hope transmits to those with preconceived notions watching the show. Each of these characters is able to grow within their shells and retain their individuality, and grow stronger around people who are able to reassess their preconceptions and embrace each other for who they are. In the end, they’re just all Saeroyi’s people: the core individuals of “Itaewon Class.” Who knows how far this class will be able to shine? We’ll just have to wait for the next episodes to find out.