A supporting character in the Korean rom-com series, King the Land, Han Mi-So is a very crucial figure in protagonist Gu Won’s life, but also one who has been absent most of his life.
Gu Won has lived most of his life not knowing what happened to his mother when she disappeared from his life one day during childhood.
When her son’s love life seems to head towards a fate similar to the one that doomed her own, Han Mi-So returns to forewarn those who stand in the way of Won’s love life.
A mother
Han Mi-So is the second wife of Il-Hoon, with whom she gave birth to Gu Won. She adored her child and through glimpses, the show reveals that their bond was really strong.
And yet, one day, she just went away from him, never to return until well into his adulthood. The little Gu Won asked all the house servants and staff where his mother is, but no one answered him.
In response, all they did was fake smiles, which ended up traumatizing Gu Won, who started hating fake smiles and thinking that most smiles in the world are fake. Meanwhile, his mother went away and never returned.
A rebel
It’s later in King the Land when it’s revealed that Gu Won’s father Gu Il-Hoon and mother Han Mi-So had dreamt up of an ideal plan regarding the Hotel together.
They were working to make the hotel a place where everyone is happy, including the customers and the staff. However, their dreams would not come to fruition as Mi-So was eventually gone.
The reason why she had to disappear without a trace was her rebellious aspirations and actions, and an ultimatum by none other than Il-Hoon’s father.
Regretful & proud
It’s a no-brainer how drastic of a life decision it was for Han Mi-So to leave her own child and go away. However, her unionizing efforts at King Hotel were not going to be tolerated by Il-Hoon’s father.
In the process of trampling the union, her father-in-law confined Gu Won to a room and told Han Mi-So that he’ll keep her child safe if she goes away. So she decides to disappear and live like she doesn’t exist in the world anymore.
This makes it near impossible for Won to track her down but he ultimately learns about her and why she left him. When she returns she warns Il-Hoon to not do to Won what he let happen to her.
She wants her son to love who he loves and fight for them, unlike Il-Hoon, who chose the business over her and let her disappear from her son’s life, on top of all the union-busting that happened afterward.
She meets Won and reveals how much regret and sorrow she has for what she deems wrong with her.
For whatever reason, she believes she shouldn’t have left Won, but her son puts up a brave face and relieves her of her guilt saying that he’s happy to learn the kind of woman she turned out to be.
