Yong

The Divine Dragon of Korean Myth

The Korean yong holds a unique place in Eastern dragon traditions. Featuring a long serpentine body, deer-like horns, carp scales, hawk talons, and crucially four toes (distinguishing it from Chinese counterparts), it dwells in rivers, lakes, and deep seas as a benevolent water deity. Korean myth says yong are imugi serpents who attained the cintamani pearl after a thousand years of cultivation and ascended to heaven. Inherently good and merciful, the yong symbolizes royal authority and protects agricultural communities by bringing rain.