한국국제교류재단

Jung Duk-hyun, Pop culture Critic

The seventh episode of the Apple TV+ original series Pachinko features a dialogue between Koh Han-su (played by Lee Min-ho) and his father (Jung Woong-in). “A person only needs to be good at one thing,” the dad tells his son, who asks in response, “Well, what would you say I should be good at?” The two speak in Korean but when the episode was released in Korea, this chat had Korean subtitles. This is because the two characters use a strong dialect from Jeju Island, something even Koreans from other parts of the country find difficult to understand.

Min Jin Lee, author of the novel the series is based on, co-directors Kogonada and Justin Chon, and writer Soo Hugh are all Korean Americans. The story deals with the life of a Korean who migrated to Japan in the 1920s from Japanese-occupied Korea and experienced upheaval over the years through the 1980s. Yet, Pachinko is an American TV series in which Apple invested KRW 100 billion (USD 79 million). The scene at a fish market in Busan’s Yeongdo area in the 1920s was not shot in Korea but in Steveston, a fishing village south of Richmond near Vancouver, Canada. Still, the Busan dialect was heard during conversations at the market. The well-made set and the characters’ clothing and dialects give the impression that the scene is set in the real Yeongdo.

Apple TV+ made a huge investment in the series and targeted a global audience, so why did it bother with regional dialects of Korea? The vast majority of non-Koreans would find it hard to grasp the dialects’ nuances, but writer Hugh is said to have put enormous effort into ensuring the use of authentic dialects. Series translator Hwang Seok-hee not only turned Hugh’s into the Korean spoken in Korea but also recovered lost or changed dialects. Stage actors Jung Ma-rin and Byun Jong-soo joined in to translate the dialects of Busan and Jeju. The process was far from easy as it was like writing the from scratch—changes were made to the , and they had to be explained to Hugh. Such efforts were not simply intended to produce the perfect scene but to use authentic dialects as a means of restoring history and respecting Koreans who made sacrifices during the nation’s tumultuous times. In Episode 7, Han-su and his father emphasize the importance of Jeju dialect while discussing the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 and the ensuing massacre of Koreans. At the time, more than 10,000 Jeju natives were in Japan as laborers, and the restoration of the dialect in the episode was intended to honor their sacrifices.

Pachinko’s focus on incidents in Korea, especially in provincial areas like Busan and Jeju, and the use of strong regional dialects along with subtitles dramatically attest to the growing competitiveness of Korea’s provincial culture in the era of globalization. Hollywood used to deal with Korea through awkward and often incorrect mimicking of Korean speech, but Pachinko shows how that approach is obsolete on the global market. So how has globally recognized Korean content invited such keen interest worldwide? When Korean Americans toil to deliver correct dialects on screen, should Koreans also strive to extract the appeal of smaller regions in the provinces through dialects and promote the dialects’ nuances abroad?

Jeju dialect is also used in writer Noh Hee-kyung’s Netflix TV series Our Blues set on Jeju Island. Many Koreans struggle to understand this dialect, so Korean subtitles are helpful. Still, the more Koreans hear them, the better they can understand, and they must accept that rough yet warm dialects play an important role in giving color to a narrative.

In the retro-themed TV series Reply 1997, dialects of the Gyeongsang region are used in brusque expressions of affection, giving the series an unmistakable cool. In the rom-com thriller TV series When the Camellia Blooms, dialects of the Chungcheong provinces provide warmth and kindness to the scenes. Dialects give exposure to localities, and when their nuances permeate, they add color that fits the messages. For foreign tourists in Korea who were motivated to visit after watching Korean content, provincial dialects could emerge as another charming aspect of Hallyu. Thus, the use and conveyance of such dialects to both Koreans and the world need a major boost.

Jung Duk-hyunDialectsPachinkoOur BluesReply 1997