Various languages appear in the Apple TV+ original drama 'Pachinko' as the main characters are immigrant families who left their homeland during the Japanese colonial period and went through various countries. Korean, Japanese, and English are all used in one story, as well as different dialects of these languages. The Busan and Jeju dialects were used in the Korean language, and the dialect used by Korean-Japanese immigrants was also refined by seeking advice from Korean-Japanese individuals.

Several translators and dialect experts worked hard to create dialogues for people of different generations who went back and forth between Busan, New York, and Osaka. Hwang Seok Hee, who participated in the script translation, shared about the work process in a video interview. Hwang Seok Hee is famous for his translation of film subtitles for movies such as 'Deadpool,' 'Spiderman,' and the drama 'Game of Thrones.'

According to Hwang Seok Hee, the original script for the drama was all written in English by a team of American writers, including screenwriter and producer Soo Hugh. Although Soo Hugh is Korean-American, she does not speak Korean fluently. Therefore, Hwang Seok Hee was asked to translate the English script into Korean. Hwang Seok Hee explained there were Korean lines in the script that were rather written awkwardly and had to be changed. Additionally, Hwang Seok Hee had to communicate with the writers to convince them that certain slang used in the Korean language to be included in the script.

In one scene, when Go Han Soo (played by Lee Min Ho) was trying to pick up Sun Ja's bag, Sun Ja (Played by Kim Min Ha) shrinks away from him. That's when he says, "Don't worry, I won't eat you" (direct translation) in Korean. Originally, the line was written in English, "You must know it. I mean no harm," and translated awkwardly into Korean. Therefore, Hwang Seok Hee worked to make the Korean lines more natural. 

He explained, "In English, 'I won't eat you' is very awkward. In Korea, we know what that phrase means and the line is more natural using that expression. So I had to communicate these things. When there were English sentences I couldn't find the exact Korean phrase to do justice, the writers would change the English sentence. It was a unique and fun experience."

Another expert was hired to add different dialects to the Korean-translated script.

Hwang Seok Hee explained he had worked with theater actors Jung Ma Rin and Byeon Jong Soo to add the Busan dialect and Jeju dialect to the script. When the actors read the script in their native dialect, the audio was recorded to refer to while finishing the script.

The drama has been praised for properly expressing the Jeju dialect. As the Jeju dialect differs greatly from the standard language, there are often times when even Korean dramas would make minor changes in the intonations. However, 'Pachinko' has properly expressed the difficult Jeju dialect.

Translator Hwang Seok Hee explained, "I worked with actor Byeon Jong Soo before to seek advice on the Korean dialects. He told me that he never had to use such an old dialect. Even when I re-read the script, I couldn't understand it even though I helped translate it. I think the production team for 'Pachinko' made a bold decision." He added, "We were going to soften the dialects if the actors had a hard time memorizing the lines but the actors also said they would practice. And in fact, they did a wonderful job expressing the dialect."

Also, the Japanese script for the character Solomon, who is a Japanese-born Korean, was also edited by Japanese language experts. The script was looked over by Japanese translators to change certain expressions to sound much more natural.

On top of that, the completed script went through a verification process by historians. The historians checked whether words such as 'honey' or 'wife' were actually used at that time. The script was also modified during the process of communicating with the actors playing each role. 

Hwang Seok Hee explained that the editing process was countless. HE explained, "The original script was given different versions and were named white, gold, pink versions every time there was a change. I can't even remember how many colors were used."

The translation process continued for more than a year, and the actors were not allowed to d any ad-libs and had to speak strictly according to the script.

Translator Hwang Seok Hee said, "if the subtitle translation I did before was a job that just translated the script that was already said by the actors, now, I was able to see the script come to life as the actors said the lines that I translated." He added, "If it was a simple subtitle translation, then it would have been finished in 8 days but I had to work on this for over a year and had countless meetings at night. I don't think I would be able to have another opportunity to work on a project this deeply. I am so grateful and honored to be able to translate such extraordinary work."