“Pachinko,” a highly acclaimed American TV series, highlights an issue in Japan that is rarely touched upon in Japanese television dramas: the struggles of ethnic Koreans in the country.

The historical events and backdrop also add more weight to their journey. Even though the show is heavy-handed, 'Pachinko' ...

Joan Vos MacDonald is a New York-based writer who covers Korean media. Pachinko tells the story of Sunja, who viewers first meet as a young woman helping her mother run a boarding house during the ...