Sun-Hwa Kwon

Sun Kwon (née Paik) is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost played by Yunjin Kim.

Biography

Prior to Oceanic Flight 815

Sun Paik attends Seoul National University, majoring in Art History, but to her mother's dismay, does not return with a husband. One potential suitor, Jae Lee, seems sincere but already has a commitment to an American woman. Shortly after learning this from him, she quite literally bumps into Jin-Soo Kwon, her future husband.

Their marriage begins with great promise, as Jin manages to convince her wealthy father, Mr. Paik, of his intentions. Unbeknownst to Sun, however, her father has placed a significant burden on Jin by demanding he come work for him. Over time, Jin becomes distant and abusive, and Sun, seeking to escape her failing marriage, begins taking English lessons in secret with Jae, who has returned from America after his relationship ended. Although the two are merely friends, there is a romantic moment between them that is not fully explored.

Sun's marriage to Jin is further strained due to their trouble of conceiving a child. When Sun and Jin go to a doctor, he explains Sun has excess scar tissue blocking her fallopian tubes, making it impossible for her to become pregnant, even with surgery. This leaves Jin furious, believing that Sun knew about her condition all along. Later on, however, the doctor tracks Sun down and explains that Sun is perfectly healthy; it is Jin who is sterile. He was afraid to tell them this originally because Jin is an enforcer for Sun's father and may have reacted violently.

Finally, with the help of a friend, Sun is given a chance to escape her husband while at the Sydney airport. A single moment of tenderness from Jin while waiting in the check-in line reminds her of her love for him and she decides not to leave him at the last minute.

On the island

Sun is initially suppressed by Jin, who feels it is his job to protect the two of them from the other survivors. However, over time, as Jin's attitude brings the couple into conflict with the other survivors, she begins to assert herself, and she then becomes a very important contributor to the lives of the survivors.

Sun's knowledge of herbal medicine made from plants and wildlife found throughout the island proves very valuable in a number of instances. Sun saves Shannon's life when Shannon's asthma problem gets vitally serious when they run out of the medicine; she prepares a mixture made from eucalyptus that helps Shannon breathe normally. She and Kate grow a vegetable garden with some of the herbs that she has found useful for curing common ailments. She also proves to be an able medical assistant to Jack, including recommending the use of sea urchin quills to pierce Jack's skin in order to transfuse his blood into Boone, and serves as a voice of calm and reason when some people begin to go too far. Unfortunately, her freedom has come at a price: when Jin finds out that she has been keeping her English language knowledge a secret, he tells her that their marriage was over, and refuses to speak to her.

On Kate's advice, the day before the second raft is scheduled to leave the island, Sun poisons Jin's water bottle to keep him from leaving the island. However, Michael drinks the water instead and falls ill. Only Jack and Kate know that Sun is responsible for the poisoning.

Prior to Jin's departure on the raft, he and Sun reconcile.

When the bottle of messages that was taken onboard the raft is found by Claire, implying the raft's apparent demise and leading to the assumption that its occupants are gone as well, it is given to Sun, who decides to bury it. Unknown to Sun and everyone else, everyone on the raft makes it safely back to the island -— though Sawyer has been shot in the shoulder and Michael's son Walt has been abducted by the "Others." They meet up with survivors from the tail-section of the plane.

Later, Sun misplaces her wedding band. Fearing that she has lost the only thing of worth to her — something connected to Jin — Sun frantically tears through the beach and her garden searching for it. Eventually, with Kate's help, Sun's wedding band is found in the location of the buried message bottle. It is not until a few days later, when the rest of the tail-end survivors — led by those who were on the raft — arrive at the beach where the mid-section suvivors' camp is, that Sun is finally reunited with Jin.

When Jin starts packing all of a sudden after hearing that Michael has run after Walt again, Sun starts asking why he is leaving. Jin tells her that Michael is his friend, but she reminds him that she is his wife, and they later both agree that they don't like being told what to do.

When Sun is working in her garden she hears noises from the jungle. Then something runs towards her and it turns out to be Vincent. Vincent runs off and it begins to rain. Suddenly, a black sack is over her head. She screams and tries to escape. Sawyer and Kate hear her and find her unconcious on the ground. They bring her back to camp and Jack treats her. She eventually recovers and she says that she was working in her garden and Vincent came to her. Then she said that it was raining and she was grabbed. She never saw who did this to her and escaped, but she fell on the ground and was knocked unconcious.

Not long after, Jin destroys Sun's garden when she refuses to stay near him on the beach, even though he is only concerned for her safety. Instead of following him to their tent, she takes off, only to be found by Rose and Bernard, who witness Sun in a brief spell of uncharacteristic sickness. Concerned, they offer her water and company, but she dismisses them to find Sawyer, in hopes of procuring a pregnancy test. Despite Jin's sterility, Sun's pregnancy test results came back positive, and was confirmed by Jack. Sun tells Jin the whole truth - about her pregnancy and his sterility. She swears to him that she has never been with another man. Jin considers it a miracle, and the two are overjoyed.

Trivia

Yunjin Kim is a successful South Korean movie actress who originally auditioned for the role of Kate, though subsequently the role of Sun was created just for Yunjin. In addition to acting, Yunjin's involvement with the show also includes serving as a translator between the show's Korean dialect coach and fellow Lost star, Daniel Dae Kim, who speaks fluent English and American-accented Korean in real life.