Pachinko Cast & Character Guide

Warning: Contains potential SPOILERS for Pachinko

Pachinko is Apple TV+’s series adaptation of the 2017 New York Times best-selling novel of the same name, and it features a great ensemble cast of internationally popular and relatively unknown actors. Like the novel, Pachinko captures an aspect of Korean history that’s not often told in the West. Following the recent upsurge in the popularity of Korean dramas, 2022’s Pachinko tells an ambitiously epic historical tale that spans several generations.

This begins in the early 1900s, wherein Koreans are treated as second-class citizens in their own country, and families face the economic and social challenges of eking out a living in Japanese-occupied Korea. Mirroring the experiences of many Koreans during this time, the series tells the story of how Sunja and her family emigrate to Japan for a better life. In the ’80s, Sunja’s family establishes a thriving pachinko business, a type of pinball-based legalized gambling that’s popular in Japan, which allows the family to live in wealth and send some of its members to the U.S. for schooling. Pachinko juxtaposes these different timelines in order to tell an inter-generational tale of immigration, racism, war, and family ties.

Pachinko, similar to other historical period dramas like 1883, Bridgerton, and Vikings, borrows extensively from the experiences of real people in the past. While Pachinko‘s narrative is entirely fictional, it’s also a crash course on the real-life experiences of emigrant Korean families, driven out of their country for a variety of reasons. Here are the actors tasked with bringing this epic historical tale to life onscreen.

Youn Yuh-Jung as Sunja

Sunja is the character who ties Pachinko’s timelines together. Pachinko begins with following Sunja as a young girl in Japanese-occupied Korea in the early 1900s, juxtaposed with Sunja as the matriarch of a wealthy Korean family running a pachinko business in Japan in the ’80s. Stepping into the role of grandma Sunja in the ’80s is actor Youn Yuh-Jung, a living legend in South Korean television and film. In her five decades as an actress, Yuh-Jung has won several awards, and has appeared in series and films such as Sense8, Minari, Beasts Clawing at Straws, The Queen’s Classroom, and the long-running K-drama Unexpected You.

Jin Ha as Solomon Baek

Sunja’s grandson Solomon Baek is a Columbia University-educated and Manhattan-based business executive who needs to close a deal in order to get promoted to VP. This prompts Solomon to return to Japan and reunite with his family. Playing Solomon is Jin Ha, a relatively unknown actor who also appears in The Same Storm, Devs, and the TV movie Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert.

Minha Kim as Teenage Sunja

In the 1920s, Sunja and her family remain in Japanese-occupied Korea. Playing the role of a teenage Sunja is actor Minha Kim. Similar to model-turned-actor Jung Ho-yeon who played Sae-byeok in Squid Game, Kim steps into her first major acting gig as Sunja in Pachinko. Prior to bagging the role, Kim appeared in the Korean short film Main Street.

Lee Minho as Koh Hansu

Koh Hansu is a powerful Korean businessman with a shady background. Hansu takes a keen interest in teenage Sunja. Actor Lee Minho is the most famous face in the main cast of Pachinko. Minho is particularly known for his roles in Boys Over Flowers, Heirs, Gangnam 1970, and the live-action adaptation of the anime City Hunter.

Pachinko Supporting Cast of Characters

Yu-na Jeon as Young Sunja: Sunja grows up quickly as she learns to navigate the harsh sociopolitical and economic conditions of Japanese-occupied Korea. Yu-na Jeon is an up-and-coming child actor, and playing young Sunja in Pachinko is her very first professional acting gig.

Jimmi Simpson as Tom Andrew: Tom Andrew is Solomon’s co-worker at the Tokyo branch of their firm. Veteran actor Jimmi Simpson also appears in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The Man Who Fell To Earth, and Star Trek: Prodigy.

Soji Arai as Baek Mozasu: Solomon’s father and Sunja’s son Baek Mozasu is the wealthy owner and operator of several pachinko parlors in Japan. Actor Soji Arai is a Tokyo theater legend who also appears in films and series such as Karate Kid spin-off Cobra Kai, Dead of Night, and Keijirô engawa nikki 3 in addition to his role in Pachinko.

Pachinko releases new episodes Fridays on Apple TV+.

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