Yoduk Story

This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (August 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's general notability guideline. Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention. If notability cannot be shown, the article is likely to be merged, redirected, or deleted. Find sources: "Yoduk Story" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (November 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Yoduk Story is a stage play by North Korean defector Jung Sung San (Jeong Seongsan 정성산), released in 2006. The story is based on stories of political prisoners at the Yodok concentration camp.^[1]

This harrowing musical premiered in the US in October 2006. The writer and director, Jung Sung-San was never imprisoned at Yoduk, therefore he has relied on accounts of others who were there, including Kang Chol-Hwan. Jung was able to escape North Korea and find his way to South Korea, where in 2002, he learned that his father had been publicly stoned to death in the North. In his sorrow and anger, he sought out a way to express all his feelings and promptly began writing this musical. He faced death threats and government pressure to make changes. When financial backers pulled out in the midst of pressure, he put up his kidney as collateral for approximately $20,000.