Apple TV+’s new drama series Pachinko, based on Min Jin Lee’s best-selling 2017 novel, is an eight-part epic that spans generations, following a resilient Korean woman named Sunja and her family from her birth in the 1910s through the Japanese occupation of Korea and its aftermath in the late 20th century.

Youn Yuh-jung, who won an Oscar for Minari last year, headlines the historical drama as an aging Sunja. Her memories of her childhood in colonial Korea and as a young woman in Osaka are brought back following the arrival of her grandson Solomon (Jin Ha), who’s just come home from America.

“The story is about survival,” said Youn at the series’ opulent premiere in Los Angeles on Wednesday at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. “My character, she’s a survivor. She lived a life of a lot of pain, and she survived. I just admire her so much. She never gave up. That is important.”

Debuting March 25, Pachinko is the first major trilingual U.S. series, told in Korean, Japanese, and English. The series also boasts an international ensemble cast, including newcomer Minha Kim as a teenage Sunja, Jeon Yu-na, and Korean heartthrob Lee Minho, and features a predominantly Asian-led production team behind the camera. Directed by Korean Americans Kogonada and Justin Chon, the series is staged against the backdrop of historical events and unspeakable hardships.

“My grandmother was alive during the 1910s, and growing up she would tell me the stories about the horrible Japanese occupation,” said Chon, who previously directed Blue Bayou starring Oscar winner Alicia Vikander. “She spoke fluent Japanese and when I read Pachinko, I just kept on imagining her as a young girl, and the racism and prejudice she experienced. That makes me super emotional.”

The show does not shy away from Japan’s xenophobia against Koreans. Extreme forms of harassment, social immobility, and violence was a daily occurrence for Koreans both under colonial rule and in Japan, where more than 700,000 Koreans moved during the occupation.

“To be honest, I wasn’t aware of the history of Korea being controlled by Japan, and how much oppression there was,” said Westworld alum Jimmi Simpson, who plays Solomon’s American boss in the series. “This show gives such a clear idea of all the pain that Korea went through, and I hope people can empathize.”

The series’ harsh depiction of racism against Koreans resonates today, with the increasing violence against people of Asian descent since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Wednesday night’s premiere of Pachinko coincidentally was held on the one-year anniversary of the Atlanta spa shootings, in which a gunman killed eight people at three Atlanta-based Asian-owned or operated spas. The show’s cast and creators honored the victims of the killings, and their show may help create greater empathy for Asians among non-Asian audience members.

“I’d like to believe that our show can be a part of a soft power movement to help humanize our experiences more and at least give a sense of understanding that we are just people,” said Ha, best known to American audiences as Anna Kendrick’s love interest on HBO Max’s Love Life.

Chon added, “When you watch the show and see the things that we deal with, I hope people will realize we are so much more alike than different. We all have parents; we all eventually have children; we all fall in love. And I just hope that Americans can embrace the idea to just love one another, love the Asian community, and that we really are not that different.”

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