Upper -class. Isak, Yoseb, and Kyunghee are of yangban lineage, whereas Sunja comes from a peasant family. In Pachinko, class lineage shapes attitudes about the options available to women—for example, Yoseb thinks it’s inappropriate for a yangban woman like Kyunghee to work outside the home.
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Yangban Term Timeline in Pachinko
The timeline below shows where the term Yangban appears in Pachinko. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Book 1, Chapter 15
...let her work outside the home. Sunja realizes this means that, in Yoseb’s view, a yangban woman shouldn’t work, but it’s fine for a peasant girl like herself. She thinks Kyunghee,...
(full context)
