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This year has seen some exceptional Korean dramas like Twenty Five Twenty One, All of Us Are Dead, and now the Lee Min-ho starrer, Pachinko, which is quite unlike the usual dramas. It maps the struggling period in the history of Korea when the country was taken over by Japan — a tragic time in the lives of many Koreans that left Lee Min-ho “devastated” when he sat down to research his role.
Lee Min-ho tried to understand “emotion and sentiment” of era Pachinko depicts
In the Apple TV+ series, the actor plays the role of the fish broker Koh Hansu, who falls in love with the young Sun-ja (Kim Min-ha) but cannot marry her when she becomes pregnant with his child. This significantly alters her future as she becomes a Korean immigrant in Japan, raising a family over four generations that faces the prejudice reserved for non-natives of the country.
In a recent interview with The Korea Times, Lee Min-ho reflected upon how he perceived the “depth” of Pachinko and how it affected him. He acknowledged that while every drama tries to portray real emotions and relatable events, his new series is “different in terms of its depth,” which prompted him to “focus on understanding the emotion and sentiment of the people from that era.”
“We are grateful to live in this era. Back then, there were no choices and no room to dream of a better future. I could empathize with the things Hansu says and the decisions Sun-ja makes.”
He added:
“I tried to look at the images from that time, and what devastated me was that there were no pictures of Koreans smiling. It hurt to see that there were no hopes and dreams but only those who are pushing along with their lives.”
Elsewhere in the interview, actress Kim Min-ha also revealed that she read the “shocking” stories in the book the show is based on for her research for the role. She also chatted with Zainichi Koreans (the Japanese term that refers to Korean migrants), who confirmed that the book makes “no distortion or exaggeration” about their history.
Pachinko continues to bring in positive reviews, so the actors’ preparations have definitely paid off. The show airs every Friday on Apple TV+.
