“Azalea Village Story"—a play spotlighting North Korean defectors’ integration issues—is ready to open next week.
Sponsored by the Ministry of Unification, it will be performed at 13 schools across eight provinces in the country between July 3rd and July 20th, reaching an audience of 9,309 students.
The play aims to help young attendees develop an understanding of the reality of human rights in North Korea. Depicting interpersonal conflicts in a small village of North Korean defectors, it also brings attention to the difficulties of reconciling the different lived experiences between North Korea and South Korea—ultimately illustrating that adjustment is complex.
In preparation for the play’s debut, an advisory meeting took place on June 27th at the Saejowi Lecture Hall, under the aegis of Dr. Shin. The cast ran a full-rehearsal in front of a panel of advisors and dramaturges—including Geumsang Kwon (Doctor of Education, North Korean Studies), Youngsoo Kim (Director of the Institute of North Korean Studies), Yeonsook Park (Professor at Soongsil University), Jinwook Seo (Professor at Paichai University), Yeong-jong Lee (Reporter), Seong-il Lim (Humanities Specialist), and Jeonghee Jeon (Visiting Professor at Ewha Womans University).
The cast are excited to show their work to thousands of students in Korea, to ultimately bring attention to North Korean defectors’ struggles in integration, including isolation, family-separation, rights abuses, and physical & mental health challenges. These are the very obstacles that Saejowi aims to tackle, in order to better help defectors adjust to South Korean society.
An intern at Saejowi described the full-rehearsal as “involving heavy, action-packed scenes that accurately depict the struggles that defectors experience—including heart-wrenching scenes of crossing the Tumen River—as well as some light-hearted bits that will help engage a young audience.”
We look forward to the play opening next week! Thank you to the actors, production team, and advisors for working hard.