‘Cold-blooded’ Korean Zainichi businessman reveals cruel face of colonial era[선넘는 콘텐츠]

Comparison of the original work of the drama ‘Pachinko 2’

In the novel, Hansu was a man who loved his homeland, but in the drama, he was a villain who exploited Joseon people.
A clear contrast with the characters chosen by Good
The original story is about an old woman who can’t escape the past… She is portrayed as a grandmother who works hard in the present.
Capturing the eternal wandering of Korean immigrants

In season 2 of the drama ‘Pachinko’, Han-soo (Lee Min-ho) is portrayed as a character who exploits fellow Koreans in order to survive. At a press conference when season 1 was released in 2022, actor Lee Min-ho said, “Han-soo is a rough character who only looks forward in his own way in a cruel era,” and “I wanted to express the process in which a person who was absolutely good ends up living as an absolute evil in the process of survival.” Provided by Apple TV Plus

“There is rice left over in the colony (Joseon), but it would be difficult to transport it to the mainland (Japan). What if we had Joseon people carry rice on their backs and swim over there?”

In a high-class restaurant in Osaka, Japan, in 1945, Japanese politicians are joking around in front of Han-soo (Lee Min-ho), a businessman of Korean descent. When Han-soo demands a bribe from the Japanese politicians, they indirectly mention Han-soo’s origins and act maliciously.

But Hansoo doesn’t get angry. His expression doesn’t change at all. For Hansoo, who married a Japanese woman and lives as a Japanese person, humiliation is something he must endure in order to survive.

‘Pachinko’ Season 2, an 8-part Apple TV Plus drama series that will be released one episode a week starting on the 23rd, is a work that deals with the lives of Koreans who left their homeland during the Japanese colonial period and settled in Japan and the United States. After it was first released in 2022, it became a hot topic, such as winning the Best Foreign Language Drama Award in the TV category of the ‘Critics’ Choice Awards’ in the United States. While Season 1 was mainly told from the perspective of the young Seon-ja (Kim Min-ha), Season 2 unfolds the narrative by putting Han-soo first.

In season 2, Han-soo is portrayed as cold-blooded. Han-soo, who moved from Jeju to Japan as a child, survived the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923 and grew up to be a person who exploits others ruthlessly in order to survive. He does not help even fellow Koreans if they are not helpful. He even pushes his hidden son No-ah (Park Jae-joon) to “survive somehow.”

In the original novel of the same name (pictured) written by Korean-American author Lee Min-jin, Han-su’s character is portrayed a little differently. Han-su, who has a secret affection for Joseon, acts like a Japanese person on the outside but worries about his identity as a Joseon person. He is also a generous and loving father to Noah. In the novel, Han-su tells Noah, who is going to Waseda University, “Study for all Joseon people, for all Joseon people who cannot go to a school like Waseda University.”

Han-soo, who takes on the role of a ‘villain’ in the drama, is the polar opposite of the Korean pastor Lee Isaac (Noh Sang-hyun). Lee Isaac marries the young Seon-ja who was abandoned after becoming pregnant with Han-soo’s child, and raises Han-soo’s son Noah as his own. The stark contrast between Lee Isaac, who was taken away by the Japanese police and tortured while helping Koreans, and Han-soo, who exploits fellow Koreans to survive, shows how the cruel era of Japanese colonial rule forced people at the time to make many choices.

Actress Yoon Yeo-jeong, who plays the role of an older woman. Courtesy of Apple TV Plus

In the novel, the elderly Seonja (Yoon Yeo-jeong), who lives in Japan in 1989, is portrayed as a character stuck in the past. Whenever she gets the chance, she reminisces about the old days and talks about her children. First, she visits the grave of her late husband, Isaac, and asks, “What do you think?” and tells him about her children.

On the other hand, in the drama, Seonja is portrayed as a character who actively lives in the present (1989). She visits her grandson Solomon (Jin-ha) who lives in Tokyo and supports him by making him braised ribs. She also lends money to Solomon, who is still wandering after graduating from a prestigious American university, so that he can start a business. She emphasizes his Korean identity by telling Solomon, “Don’t forget who you are.”

The reason the drama reflects on Seonja’s present is to portray the eternal wandering of a ‘foreigner’ who left his hometown. Seonja, who lives in 1989, is a rich Korean but does not speak Japanese well. He does not get angry at Japanese people who hate Koreans, but he does not try to look good to successful Japanese people. He does not stay in the past, but he is not able to fully adapt to the present.

While dealing with the special subject of ‘Korean diaspora’ (Korean immigration), this work poses a universal question. How should those who have lived miserable lives live in the present? Seonja does not easily answer this complex question. She simply stares.

Reporter Lee Ho-jae [email protected]

2024-08-21 01:56:58