Character Relationship Map: YMCA Baseball Team

Characters

• Lee Ho-chang (played by Song Kang-ho) — protagonist

  The film's protagonist who accidentally discovers baseball at a missionary school and joins the YMCA league. He falls for his female coach and strives to become a great player. Initially abandons the...

• Min Jung-rim (played by Kim Hye-soo) — protagonist

  The YMCA team's female coach who guides the squad to success. She remains indifferent to Ho-chang's romantic advances. Later revealed as a member of the Anti-Eulsa League, participating in political p...

• Oh Dae-hyeon (played by Kim Joo-hyuk) — supporting

  A key team member who studied in Tokyo. He proposes a baseball match to resolve a practice ground dispute with Japanese soldiers, turning the game into a symbolic stand for Korean identity. He is also...

• Ryu Kwang-tae (played by Hwang Jung-min) — supporting

  A member of the YMCA baseball team whose father is connected to the political tensions surrounding the Eulsa Treaty and the Anti-Eulsa League. His family background adds personal and historical stakes...

• Ho-chang's Father (played by Shin Gu) — minor
• Kwang-tae's father (played by Koh In-bae) — minor

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Kwang-tae's father → Ryu Kwang-tae (father)
• Ho-chang's Father → Lee Ho-chang (father)
• Lee Ho-chang → Min Jung-rim (Romantic Unrequited Love) — Ho-chang's affection for Jung-rim adds comic tension to their coach-player relationship; she does not return his romantic interest.

  The plot says Ho-chang falls in love with his female coach, while she is uninterested in his advances.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Oh Dae-hyeon → Min Jung-rim (Alliance Political Allies) — They share opposition to the Eulsa Treaty through their membership in the Anti-Eulsa League.

  The plot identifies both Oh Dae-hyeon and Min Jung-rim as members of the Anti-Eulsa League.

Story Analysis

The discovery of baseball grows into a story of team unity and Korean self-assertion amid Japanese suppression and political division.

Plot Progression

1. A Ball Beyond the Gate — Ho-chang's distraction takes him from his studies to a missionary school, where he discovers baseball. Curiosity brings him back, and he joins the YMCA league with other Koreans.
2. The Team's Rising Pride — Under Jung-rim's coaching, the unlikely team succeeds and earns the town's pride. Ho-chang's unreturned love for his coach adds a personal comic thread.
3. A Field and a Nation Disputed — Japanese soldiers challenge the team's right to use its practice ground, and Dae-hyeon proposes a game to settle the dispute. The treaty conflict and the Anti-Eulsa League place the contest within bro...
4. Defeat, Return, and Rematch — The team loses its first game and its members turn toward practical roles; Ho-chang takes over his family's school to fulfill his father's wish. The players reunite for a final rematch and win, repres...