Lee Minho attends Apple’s press conference for the second season of “Pachinko.”
When the second season of Pachinko At the beginning of The Journey Beyond, Lee Minho’s character Koh Hansu is still very involved in the life of the woman he loves, even though Sunja hasn’t seen or heard from him in over a decade. He watches over her and her family from afar. As the right-hand man of a powerful gangster, he has amassed considerable power, and he desires even more. He is kind to Sunja’s family, even if they don’t always know where that kindness comes from, but to others he is ruthless and uses violence to get what he wants.
Lee’s intuitive portrayal beautifully captures the dark turmoil in Koh Hansu’s soul, his struggle to increase his power, and his frustration at what he can’t have. Lee said he focused on what Hansu wanted and was determined to achieve at any cost when creating the character.
“I tried to focus on what he really wants to do, his desire itself,” Lee said. “From the first season, his desire was really focused on his own survival. But in the second season, I think he’s moved beyond that survival stage. Now he’s aiming for bigger, better things. It’s about more power, more influence, and even politically, he’s aiming for some influence in this sector. So I tried to focus on that aspect of my character.”
His love for Sunja and her son may be the noblest thing in his life, but his motives are nonetheless complicated. When Hansu first meets Sunja in Korea, she is young and innocent, easily influenced and falls in love quickly. Hansu recognizes something familiar in her, perhaps an innocence he has had to give up.
Lee’s character Koh Hansu helps Sunja and her family escape from Tokyo during the war.
“When Hansu first met Sunja, he knew from that moment that she was the same type as him,” Lee said. “So he developed these kinds of feelings for her. It was more than love.”
Although she loved him, Sunja, played by Minha Kim, refused to be his lover. Instead, she married another man who took her to Tokyo and raised Hansu’s child as his own. Hansu never forgot that he has a son, and the thought of it consumes him.
“In season two, I think it was more than that,” Lee said. “Because now they have a son together and he really wanted to own those two people as his own bloodline. I think in that respect, Hansu has grown and evolved. So in terms of emotions and feelings, there’s not too much difference between Hansu’s feelings in season one and season two. But when I was portraying Hansu for season two, I thought about what other feelings he has beyond the emotional love for Sunja. I tried to focus on that aspect.”
Pachinko is based on the bestselling novel by Min Jin Lee. The first season of the TV adaptation aired in 2022 and won the Peabody Entertainment Award, a Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Foreign Language Series, an Independent Spirit Award for Best Ensemble in a Scripted Series, and a Gotham Award for Breakthrough Series. The second season more than lives up to the first, eloquently continuing the universal story of love and loss.
Lee’s character Koh Hansu watched over Sunja, played by Kim Minha.
Lee’s first reaction to reading Pachinko was that it was a story from a different time, but he realized that in many ways not much has changed, perhaps nothing ever will. That is perhaps why the story resonates with such a wide audience.
“We’re all trying really hard in our own ways to survive and make a living,” Lee said. “And everyone becomes a parent at some point, and we have kids, and our kids become parents and all that. And the generations continue because even though there’s a difference between the time period we’re talking about in the show and the present, we still have this common theme of how we live, how we survive, how the generations continue. That’s the point that really draws people to this show and that will resonate.”
Lee previously appeared in the films Bounty Hunter And Gangnam Blues and he will be seen later this year in Viewpoint of omniscient reader. He also has a long list of TV dramas, including The King: Eternal Monarch, Legend of the Blue Sea, The Heirs, Faith, personal taste And Boys about flowers. As Koh Hansu he delivers one of his best performances.
Pachinko’s The excellent cast also includes Youn Yuh-jung, Jin Ha, Jung Eun-chae, Noh Sang-hyun and Anna Sawai, as well as dozens of talented supporting characters. The second season of Pachinko will air on Apple TV on August 23rd.
