Seoul’s Soul: A Study of Drag Culture’s Influence on Queer Young Adult’s Education in South Korea

Drag performance has long been considered a site of artistic expression, political resistance, and community-building within LGBTQ+ spaces. This capstone research project explores the educational impact of drag culture in Seoul, South Korea, with a particular focus on how drag performances serve as a pedagogical and educational tool that challenges gender norms, fosters queer community, and provides a platform for political discourse. Through qualitative analysis of participant observation, bilingual Korean and English survey responses, and in-depth English interviews with drag performers, performance organizers, and audience members, this research highlights the ways in which drag can function as a site of both explicit and implicit learning. The findings reveal that drag performances in Seoul contribute to cultural education, personal identity exploration, and social activism despite ongoing divisions within the LGBTQ+ community and external socio-political challenges. By situating the experiences of Seoul’s drag performers within broader conversations about queer pedagogy and performance, this research defends the potential of drag to disrupt traditional educational structures and create inclusive, transformative learning environments. Keywords: LGBTQ+, drag, queer pedagogy, informal education, gender identity, and social norms