[This page is packed with spoilers for the episodes already aired.]
He is stranded on a mysterious desert island, surrounded by strangers, and only able to communicate with his wife, who seems to be distancing herself from him. He is angry, frustrated, desperate. But what else is Jin?
Before the recent episode, "...In Translation", we knew very little about Jin. We knew he was a waiter in Korea, where he met his wife Sun. They fell deeply in love. Sun wanted to elope, but Jin approached Sun's rich father and gained his permission for the marriage, as long as Jin took management training and worked for Sun's father. This was supposed to be a temporary arrangement, but time passed and Jin got further into Sun's father's business, whatever that may be, and paid less and less attention to Sun. One night, Jin even came home with someone else's blood on his hands. When Sun asked him what he does for her father, Jin replied, "Whatever your father tells me to do." On the day of the fateful plane flight, Sun had made arrangements to run away from Jin and her father, but changed her mind at the last minute.
On the island itself, we have found out that Jin is hardworking and willing to do what needs to be done in the name of survival. He is skilled at catching and preparing fish and other seafood. He is protective of Sun and does not want her to interact with the other survivors, especially Michael.
Then came the episode "...In Translation" 
and we learned a great deal more.
Jin's full name is Jin-Soo Kwon. He came from a poor fishing village. Jin lies and says his father is dead because he is embarrased by his family. Jin's dream is to open a restaurant.
Sun's father is named Mr. Paik. He runs a vast business, the only part which we know about is a car business. It is mysterious why Mr. Paik agrees to Jin and Sun's marriage but perhaps Mr. Paik sees a chance to continue to control his daughter.
Jin promised Sun "the honeymoon we dreamed about" for six months after their marriage. By then he was to have finished his management training. Jin doesn't want to go on the honeymoon immediately so that he can prove to Mr. Paik how serious he is in his new job. The six months comes and goes and Jin becomes more and more mired in Mr. Paik's business. He is unable to even have an uninterrupted dinner with Sun.
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Mr. Paik promotes Jin to "special assistant", then tells Jin to "convey his disappointment" to a government official who is obstructing Mr Paik's business. Jin visits this official at home and courteously tells him that Mr. Paik is dissappointed in him. This official is so relieved at Jin's restraint that he gives him a purebred puppy. Jin gives this puppy to Sun. Jin is then called back into Mr. Paik's office and belittled for his inability to "deliver a message". He is told to drive a hit man to the official's house. At the house, Jin runs ahead of the hit man, grabs the official in front of his family and begins to beat him up. He tells the official that he has saved his life and then tells the hit man that Mr. Paik's message has been delivered. He returns home and tries to wash the blood from his hands while Sun questions him anxiously. When Sun slaps him and leaves, Jin breaks down in sobs.
Later, Jin visits his father in the fishing village. Mr. Kwon is welcoming and forgiving of Jin's abandonment. Jin tells his father about his marriage and the terrible trap he feels he is in because he cannot reveal to Sun what a monster her father is. Jin says, "in a good world, she would hate him and not me." Jin's father says that "it is a good world" and implores Jin to take advantage of his upcoming trip to Sydney and Los Angeles to run away with Sun. Jin wishes that he could just start over.
Back in present time, Jin has burned his hands trying to put out the raft fire. Michael accuses Jin of setting the fire and Jin is helpless - or perhaps doesn't even want to - defend himself. In this heated moment, Jin discovers that Sun speaks English. He is stunned and refuses to talk to her. When she tells him that she just wants to start over, he simply tells her that it is too late. He leaves her in the caves while he goes back to the beach. Later, he joins Michael in building a new raft.
In the three-part season finale, "Exodus", Sun and Jin have a tentative reconciliation. He has decided to leave the island on the replacement raft that he helped Michael build. Just before this, Sun secretly tries to make Jin ill so that he won't leave. As Jin prepares to sail, Sun gives him a primer of simple English terms and they kiss farewell.
The raft is attacked a short way from the island and the season ends with Jin diving off a sinking raft, gunfire hitting the water all around him.
The revelations and development of Jin have been very exciting. When he was first introduced, Jin seemed the stereotype of a harsh domineering husband. As in many things in Lost, the truth is much more complicated. We have learned that Jin loves and cherishes Sun to the extent of sacrificing all of his dreams and ethics. Now his world is crashing around him and he is questioning all of the choices he has made.
When Season Two starts, Jin has survived the shipwreck, only to be captured by the other survivors of his doomed flight. These survivors - the "Tailies" from having been in the tail of the plane - seem in much worse shape than Jin's group. Sawyer and Michael arrive, and after much distrust and friction, the tailies decide to take them back to their own camp. Jin's English skills are slowly improving, as well as his friendship with Michael. When Michael takes off by himself in search of his son, Jin risks his life to bring Michael back to the relative safety of the group.
In the episode "... and Found", we learn how Sun and Jin met. Jin had just quit a promising hotel job because of his boss's gross prejudices. Sun had just left a date with a man she thought loved her, but turned out only to be using her to delay his parent's marriage demands until he could leave the country. Jin and Sun run into each other, literally, in the park, and it seems to be love at first sight. Hopefully we will see more of their early life, and maybe get more insight into how their marriage went so terribly wrong.
Finally, in "Collision", Jin and Sun reunite. They embrace tightly with huge smiles on their faces. In the next episode, we see that they are happily sharing a tent. It looks like they might be rediscovering their love for each other. And Jin finally got rid of that handcuff!
Sun and Jin have reunited and in the episode, “The Whole Truth”, we are given another big piece of the puzzle of their estrangement. Sun thinks she may be pregnant which would be a great irony, because it was infertility that drove the final wedge between them. Flashback to about a year after their marriage and a loving moment turns into a fight as Jin wonders why Sun isn’t pregnant yet. Jin is desperate for a child in part because he thinks that it will solve his problems with Sun’s father. Surely the father of Mr. Paik’s grandchild would be put in a less dangerous (i.e. violent) job. Sun is convinced to go to a fertility doctor.
At the doctor’s office, they are told in no uncertain terms that Sun will never be able to have a baby. Shattered, Jin yells at Sun that she somehow must have “known” and had been lying to him. Sun responds with bitter irony that she wouldn’t need to lie to capture the son of a fisherman. Later, Sun confesses to a friend that she was glad when she heard the news – she doesn’t want to bear the child of a man she now sees as a monster. She wants to leave him and is determined to do so very soon. As Sun is later walking with her dog, the fertility doctor approaches her. He says he needs to tell her that he lied when he said that the infertility was on Sun’s side. It is Jin who cannot bear children, but the doctor was too afraid to tell “such a man”, i.e. someone who works for Sun’s father.
Back to present day, Sun’s pregnancy tests shows up positive. She meets Jin out in her garden and tells him -- but before he can react she tells him the doctor’s news and promises to him that she never slept with anyone else. Jin ponders for a moment then says simply that he believes her and so a miracle must have happened. (Given the healing power of the island, it’s quite possible.)
Jin laughs with joy as he finally understands Sawyer’s earlier jibe of calling him “Daddio”. Sun looks down at her pregnant belly and smiles. Looks like this family is on its way to being a happy family of three.
There are many great places to debate and speculate on Jin and Lost, including the danieldaekim yahoogroup, The Fuselage, and ABC.com
Early Season One ponderings from Daniel--
Thanks to The Fuselage forum, we can get a little more insight into Jin from Daniel himself. On November 12th, 2004 and again on November 14th, he visited the main forum and answered questions. While he of course wouldn't reveal anything about future episodes, he could tell us some about where he thinks Jin is and where he may be going.
[Responding to questions regarding Jin's likability]
As far as Jin leaving people pretty
cold, all I can say about that at this point is
that if I didn't know anything more about
him besides what's been aired, I'd feel the same
way. I have to admit, it was a little hard
reading so many posts saying how many
people HATE this character, but I guess that
means I'm doing my job as an actor. I like to
think I'm a little nicer than that in person. ; ) As
far as what the future holds... I think you'll
see a lot of different colors in Jin. Much like
Sawyer in last night's episode, I think we'll
learn more about what events in his life
hardened him, and maybe... just maybe,
you'll be able to sympathize with him. The
great thing about playing a character like this
is that there are so many places to go when
you start off where he does. I can't wait to see
how life on the island spurs his evolution.
[Is Jin "a bad guy"?]
Definitely not. Everyone's life has
circumstances that determine who they
become. Nobody who's a jerk thinks of
themselves that way. They just think they're
behaving the best way they know how in
order to get what they want. I think in Jin's
particular case, his circumstances are pretty
extreme...
[Where do you see Jin going in the future?]
I am definitely looking forward to interacting with other people on
the island. I think needs to discover for himself where he belongs, and what his value is to the
community. I'm actually curious to see how
the writers are planning to handle that, given the
language barrier. Then again, that could be
a great source of a lot of drama - and
comedy! As far as a love interest goes,
there's no one else for Jin but Sun. He's
pretty much sacrificed his life and identity for
her. I think if she were to leave him, it would
leave him heartbroken beyond words. But
who knows what the future holds...
While at The Fuselage forum, Daniel also talked a little about his other work, this show, his fellow Lost actors, and some of the challenges of playing Jin.
[On speaking Korean]
Speaking Korean has been one of
the biggest challenges of my career. It adds
another element to my process when I
prepare, and I've also been working to
smooth out my Kyungsangdo accent. For
those of you who don't know, I'm from
Busan, where the people speak in a southern
drawl! It's more melodic, with it's own slang.
It's sometimes hard for people from Seoul to
understand. Thankfully, Yunjin (who's from
Seoul) has been really great about helping
me! I have to say though, I'm so honored to
have the opportunity to speak the language
of my ancestors.
As far as my acting style, I think it is
different when I speak Korean. I find that I
take on certain mannerisms of my father -
not that he's like Jin - but there are
differences in the way people from different
cultures use their bodies. I think that
happens to me as well.
Which actually reminds me of an on set story, in one
of Jack's earlier monolgues, he addressed the
whole group of us about settling in preparing
for the long haul. In one of takes though, I
noticed he was looking at me while he was
speaking. I couldn't help smiling, and after a while
I blurted out, "Don't look at me. I have no
idea what the heck you're saying!" We all
laughed. I don't think he's looked at me
since.
[Responding to various questions and posts regarding his Korean accent]
So let me be clear about my Korean because I've read some really harsh criticisms
of it on some sites, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't find them a little hurtful.
I am as proud to be Korean as I am to be an American, and
I care very deeply what the Korean community thinks
of my work, as well as the show in general.
For the record, Korean is my first language.
I came to the US when I was 2. Though I continue to speak
Korean with my parents, English quickly became my
primary language. There's nothing like being around
a bunch of nasty elementary school kids to make you want to
assimilate FAST. : ) I still speak Korean, contrary to what I've read about me,
but my Korean could use some work in two respects: Number one, I have a
Kyungsangdo accent (my entire family's from Busan -
for more on that see my previous posts) and as I've gotten older
I'm sure an American accent has seeped in there a bit as well.
Number 2, because I've only spoken with my parents,
my vocabulary is what I would call on the "household"
level. So I do have a coach (with whom I speak exclusively Korean)
who's been helping me with these things, and Yunjin's been
incredibly generous with her help as well. As I said the other day,
speaking Korean on camera has been one of the biggest challenges
of my career - from learning new vocabulary, to softening my accent,
AND at the same time trying to play intentions (you know, that stuff that actors do : ).
It's been a lot of work - but totally worth it, for so many
reasons.
For those of you who think my Korean's not good enough
(especially you folks from Seoul and parts north!)
I apologize and can only ask for your patience.
I'm deeply committed to working as long as I need to to develop the
"standard" Korean pronunciation. I will say though, that my friends and family from Busan
have had absolutely no problem understanding me, and I've also gotten my share
of compliments - thank you!
Just know that one of the things I'm most proud of on this show is that
Yunjin and I actually get to represent the culture and speak the language of our ancestors.
I feel so lucky to have that opportunity, and I'm doing my very best to do justice to it.
What's more, I think the diversity of our cast represents a major step forward for all
of network television, and I firmly believe it's one of the many reasons for the show's success.
I give so much credit to J.J., Damon, the writers, and the network for giving us this, well, gift.
I'll end with some food for thought:
how many times have you seen a primetime network TV show with 50% of its dialogue
in another language? And some of it not even subtitled!
Pretty groundbreaking, don't you think?
So sorry for the long post, but I thought it would help to clear the air.
And if you ever come across any of the posts (and posters) I'm talking about, feel free to send 'em over here.
It might be good for them to know my thoughts on the subject.
I hope that answers your question.
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[How is it working with the rest of the cast, particularly Harold Perrineau who plays Michael?]
One of the best things about being on
this show is how great everyone in the cast
is. I know every actor says that, but in our
case it's true. We've actually been getting
together at each other's houses every
Wedneday night to watch the show together.
the person who's featured that night hosts
everyone else. Pretty cool, huh?
And Harold Perrineau? Amazing actor and
amazing man. I'm so lucky to have gotten to
know him and work with him. Hopefully
someday Jin and Michael will be as good of friends
as Daniel and Harold.
I also have to say that every week, I am
amazed by the talent we have here. From
writers, directors, crew, and actors,
I am constantly surprised at how good
everyone is at their job. I've been around
long enough to know that doesn't happen
often.
[Answering various questions about his role on Angel]
Re: Angel, I had a great time working on that
show, and I think it met an untimely demise.
Thankfully though, it let us bring over our
esteemed Mr. Fury... And Stephanie, what
can I say? She's so great. She was the cast
member who made me feel the most
welcome. She was really kind, especially
considering that I came in after a really well-
liked characters exit. They were tough shoes
to fill, but I was glad to be able to join in. And how many people can say they were killed, turned into a
zombie, and THEN beheaded!
[Why did you come to visit the forum?]
Because I'm a big supporter
of forums where we can interact with our
audience. (I'm also a big computer geek - shhh!)
When David told me about the site, I told him
I wanted to check it and voila! Here I am.
[What do you do in your spare time?]
I got certified
in scuba diving during the pilot, I've been
learning to play guitar (we're gonna start a
band with all the talented musicians we've
got on this show - ever heard Naveen play?
WOW), and I'm playing a lot of tennis -
sometimes even with Harold Perrineau!
More Jin pictures and screen captures from Lost are available in the Lost Image Gallery.
More info about Lost in general on the Upcoming page.
(Thanks to The Fuselage for allowing me to reprint Daniel's posts.)
