Kim Changho is tasked by Koh Hansu to look after Sunja’s family. In the second season of Pachinko, Kim Sung-kyu plays Kim Changho.
After Isak’s arrest, Sunja starts selling kimchi in the market to earn money. One of her regular customers, Kim Changho, often makes casual conversation and inquires about her business.
During the Second World War, like everyone else, Sunja struggles to make ends meet and resorts to illegally producing rice wine and selling it on the black market.
She gets arrested, but Hansu gets her released without a sentence, and she discovers that he has been looking out for her and Noa all these years.
It turns out that Changho works for Hansu, keeping him informed about Sunja and Noa’s life, which is how Hansu knew about her arrest and arranged her release.
A new family
Along with Hansu, Changho helps Sunja and her family escape Osaka before the city is bombed. They relocate to Hansu’s farm in the countryside.
Hansu asks Changho to live with Sunja’s family to protect them. Initially, Sunja and Kyunghee are opposed to the idea of living with a stranger.
They are forced to accept Hansu’s decision, as neither has lived in the countryside on their own for a while. Together, Sunja, Kyunghee, and Changho work on Hansu’s fields and farm.
Like Sunja’s family, Changho is also from Korea, so whenever Sunja and Kyunghee face discrimination, he stands up for them.
Over time, Changho becomes part of Sunja’s family. He grows close to her children, especially Mozasu, praising their good actions and offering life lessons when necessary.
He even shares his painful past with them. Changho’s father was a farmer. His father was not rich, but he had his own land and earned enough to support his family.
However, when the Japanese authorities required farmers to register the size of their land, a clerk’s mistake led to Changho’s father’s land being registered incorrectly.
He was taxed accordingly but could not afford it, resulting in the loss of his land. Changho’s siblings were sent to live with different relatives, and his father, devastated by the loss, took his own life.
Changho then started working on the docks. He was angered by the injustice his family endured, so he frequently got into trouble until he met Hansu and began working for him.
The unattainable love of Changho and Kyunghee
Changho grows close to Kyunghee as well. He defends her whenever the foreman troubles her, much to her annoyance, and reassures her when she worries about Yoseb’s safety.
The two of them end up falling in love, but because Kyunghee is married, they never act on their feelings until they share a kiss in a moment of weakness.
Then, Yoseb returns home after being injured in the bombing. Changho and Kyunghee continue living under the same roof for the next few years.
Changho is constantly reminded that he cannot be with Kyunghee. He grows frustrated, leading to him wanting to distance himself from Sunja’s family.
When the Korean War starts, Changho becomes influenced by patriotic ideas and decides to return to North Korea to fight for his country.
Yoseb, who has realized that Kyunghee has never loved him the way she loves Changho, asks Changho to stay and be with Kyunghee, even offering to divorce her.
However, despite her love for Changho, Kyunghee is unwilling to leave her husband. She asks Changho to return to Korea, fight in the war, and start a family of his own.
Changho returns home but continues to write to Kyunghee. However, she never receives his letters, as Yoseb keeps them from her.
Eventually, Yoseb gives her the letters, leaving it up to her to decide whether to forget Changho or keep him in her life through his letters.
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