Lee Min Ho as "Koh Hansu" in Pachinko

Photo by: MYM Entertainment

Pachinko is an American drama television series created by Soo Hugh based on the 2017 novel by Min Jin Lee. The series is directed by Kogonada and Justin Chon and stars Youn Yuh-jung, Lee Min-ho, Kim Min-ha, and Jin Ha. It premiered on Apple TV+ on March 25, 2022.

Koh Hansu (played by Lee Min-ho) is a 34 years old born Korean man, adopted by a Yakuza family - the Japanese mafia. Hansu is a controlling rich man and a wealthy fish broker. He meets Sunja when she's just sixteen and seems to fall in love with her. When Sunja is about 17, she becomes pregnant - months earlier, she'd fallen in love with Hansu. However, he refuses to marry her, explaining that he already has a wife and children in Japan. Sunja eventually marries a visiting pastor named Isak.

Using his connections, Koh Hansu continually strives to earn money and control what he can. Hansu loves Sunja, even though he's married. Throughout the novel, Hansu utilizes his influence to look after Sunja and her family, keeping them alive. Hansu is driven by his love for his only son, Noa. 

Hansu  meets up with Noa on his way to his school and asks him why he is so glum when he's going to school. Hansu says that he couldn't afford to go to school when he was a child.

In one of the episode, after Koh Hansu tracks him down and Sunja visits him, Noa takes his own life. The first season of the TV series only features Noa growing up as a child, whose death is only mentioned in passing throughout the show.

Lee Min-ho described in a new interview with Esquire Korea as “a villain by all means”. He also spoke on why he chose to play the role of an antagonist for the first time: “Now that I’m in my mid-thirties, I prefer to be involved in what’s ‘real’. If it’s far from real, I can’t agree (to the project), and this (selection process) is getting harder and harder.” He also shared: “When I got the offer to audition for Pachinko, and read the script, I was convinced that with this project, I could give it a go. I wanted to try it once. I think, thanks to this conviction, the audition went well.”

Lee Min-ho won 2 Gold Medals at the US 2022 Gold Derby TV Awards with the "Best Drama Actor Award" and "Breakthrough Performer of the Year Award" for playing Koh Hansu! 

Congratulations Lee Min-ho! 🎉🎉🎉

credit: to the original owner of Pachinko 

MYM Entertainment

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