Summary
Pachinkoseason 2 picks up seven years after the season 1 finale ofApple TV+’s critically acclaimed series. Based on Min Jin Lee’s 2017 novel of the same name, the decades-spanning story follows Sunja (played by Minha Kim in her youth and Youn Yuh-jung in her elderly years) as she travels from Korea to Japan to start her family. The recently released trailer, set to Rosé from Blackpink’s cover of “Viva la Vida” by Coldplay, highlights how the show continues to expand on themes of tradition and modernity as seen through family ties.
The season 2 premiere ofPachinkotakes viewers to Osaka 1945, where Sunja has been toiling as a single mother since her husband Isak’s arrest seven years earlier. But while she is raising her two boys with the help of her kindhearted sister-in-law, circumstances force her to turn to Noa’s father Koh Hansu (played byK-drama superstar Lee Min-ho) at a desperate moment. In the 1980s timeline, meanwhile, her grandson Solomon (Jin Ha) struggles with the continued discrimination against Koreans in Japan throughout his career in business.
The 25 Best TV Shows On Apple TV+ Right Now (April 2025)
From comedies including Ted Lasso and Mythic Quest to dramas including Severance, there are many great TV shows available to binge-watch on Apple TV+.
Screen Rantparticipated in a roundtable interview with other media outlets, where we spoke to Lee Min-ho about his preparation forPachinkoseason 2.The actor shared his thoughts on fatherhood, love, and control as expressed by the complicated and veiled persona of Koh Hansu.
Hansu Is Obsessed With Bloodlines In Pachinko Season 2, “Which Goes Beyond Pure And Simple Love”
Screen Rant: If I’m not mistaken, this is the first time you’ve play a dad – though of course circumstances don’t allow you to act like one. How did you approach Hansu’s burgeoning relationship with Noa and what did you want to convey about Hansu through it?
Lee Min-ho: That was actually one of the most difficult parts of portraying my character in season 2 because I haven’t lived that life personally, and I haven’t really felt those emotions myself yet.
What I was trying to do was watch a lot of documentaries or YouTube videos about family and familial love; I watched a lot of [content about] relationships between parents and their children to learn about them. I also thought about how I should portray those feelings about blood and bloodlines, which goes beyond pure and simple love.
This season is so beautiful but also so complex. I would like to know if Hansu genuinely loves Sunja, or does he feel a sense of control and ownership over her?
Lee Min-ho: In season 1, I believe his focus was desire and emotional love towards Sunja so that he can obtain her as a person. He was trying to figure out how to express his feelings, but he was very rough with it.
But for season 2, I think there are more emotions and more dimensions to his emotions than just control. But I do think his love towards her is closer to the controlling sort of love. I’m sure he’s been watching Sunja and Noa for a very long time, hovering around them and keeping an eye on Noa and how he’s growing up. He was calculating very thoroughly as to when he should intervene and when he should show himself before them, so it was more of a controlling and suppressing type of emotion and love.
In my mind, the way he loves someone is by trying to pick the most important points in their lives, then going in there and stirring up their entire life. I think that’s how he loves someone else.
How Pachinko Has Helped Shape Lee Min-Ho’s Perspective After A Lifetime In The Industry
“I started thinking about a healthier way that people should live their lives.”
You spent your mid-thirties withPachinko. What’s the meaning of Pachinko in your acting life?
Lee Min-ho: It has a very special place in my heart because I started working at a very early age, from my late teens. I’ve met many people while I was working, and I’ve had a great number of experiences for the first 12 years. But then I started talking about how I should lead my life going forward, how should I fill my life up, and how should I live it. I started thinking more about those aspects of my life, and that’s when I met Pachinko.
I started thinking about a healthier way that people should live their lives, how we should build our communities, and how we should center our relationship with our families and community. That’s what I started thinking about, and through this work, I was able to grow as a human again. In my mid-thirties, I started thinking a lot about my life; the deeper side of my life, and that was a very precious time for me. That’s why it has a very special meaning for me.
Lee Min-Ho Reveals He Relates To Koh Hansu In Pachinko Season 2
“To me, he is a person who’s the most faithful to his desires.”
Screen Rant: Speaking of your growth, we see more of Hansu’s life from a business and family perspective in season 2. What was the most surprising thing you learned about your character while playing him?
Lee Min-ho: Rather than seeing a surprising side of him, I was actually able to relate to him a lot through the choices he makes and the way he leads his life.
If you look at him through your own moral and ethical lens and yardstick, you might be questioning yourself as to why is he making such poor choices. But to me, he is a person who’s the most faithful to his desires. If he wants to do something, he just pushes forward, and he doesn’t quite care about moral codes and ethics, and what’s wrong and right - it doesn’t matter to him. That’s how I feel about the character of Hansu.
More About Pachinko Season 2
Seven years have passed since we last saw our indomitable Pachinko characters. The year is now 1945 and World War II rages across the countryside. Sunja, our devoted mother and fierce defender of her family, has no choice but to turn to dangerous elements in order to ensure the family’s survival. In our Present Day story, Solomon is also pushed to the edge and forced to take a stand, much to his grandmother’s disappointment.
Check back soon for our otherPachinkoseason 2 interviews here:
Pachinkoseason 2 premieres August 23 on Apple TV+, followed by one episode weekly every Friday through October 11.
Pachinko
Cast
Created by Soo Hugh, Pachinko is a Drama series created for Apple TV that was released in 2022. The series stars Soji Arai, Jun-woo Han, and Jin Ha. The series follows multiple characters as they attempt to navigate their lives in New York, Japan, and Korea.
