Yunjin Kim: A Find on 'Lost'

LOS ANGELES -- The end is nearing, and for the cast of ABC's Lost, that means planning for life off the island.

Dominic Monaghan (Charlie) and Evangeline Lilly (Kate) ended their real-life three-year relationship when his character drowned in last season's finale. Some of the cast have put their Oahu homes on the market. And all are wondering if their characters will make it to the show's spring 2010 series finale.

Just days before returning to Hawaii to begin work on this season's final five episodes, Yunjin Kim (Sun) kicks back during an interview at the Olympic Spa in Koreatown. She and on-screen husband Daniel Dae Kim (Jin) take center stage in Thursday's episode (9 p.m. ET/PT).

Lost's season kicked off with the announcement that the series would end after three shorter-than-normal 16-episode seasons. Then came the writers guild strike, which shortened this season (the fourth) to just 13 episodes.

"Most of us felt good about having an end date, and I know the producers really needed it to figure how to get there," says Kim, 34. "Now they're really moving along with the story line. Each episode actually answers one or two questions, which I really like."

Thursday's show will reveal the last remaining member, or members, of The Oceanic 6, a group of plane-crash survivors who made it off the island. So far, viewers know Jack (Matthew Fox), Kate (Lilly), Hurley (Jorge Garcia), Sayid (Naveen Andrews) and perhaps baby Aaron (Claire's son) are among them. So that leaves ... ?

"Will it be Sun or Jin or another character?" Kim asks coyly.

Like many viewers, Kim remembers being shocked when writers revealed that Kate ends up raising Aaron. After reading that script, she immediately phoned Emilie de Ravin (Claire), who called her back laughing. "She thought it was so funny. I said, 'You're not worried about Claire dying?' And she said, 'No. I'll be fine.'"

More will also be revealed about Sun's mysterious pregnancy. Unlike Claire, who was pregnant when Flight 815 crashed, Sun became pregnant on the island, which has meant death for every other expectant mom on the island.

Kim suspects this mystery may have to do with the island itself "not wanting new life. I'm just dying to find out what this island is all about."

For now, Kim's life means staying put in the oceanview Oahu condo she purchased in Season 2. She recalls telling Lost executive producer Carlton Cuse, "If you kill me off (early), you're going to buy my house, OK?"

Kim recalls that Cuse said, "You've got a deal."

"He sort of gave me an idea that I was going to be around for some time," she says.

"Some time" could be over soon, though, and when it is, Kim, who is single, plans to buy a home in Los Angeles rather than return to her native Korea where, before Lost, she enjoyed a successful film career. Her most recent film was Seven Days, shot over her summer 2006 hiatus, and it performed so well in Korea that Hollywood producers are considering an English-language remake. She also recently shot the short film Two Sisters, directed by friend Margaret Cho, for film-festival consideration.

Kim would prefer to have Sun's time come early and have a memorable death, rather than hold on for the sake of job security.

She recalls Monaghan's death scene: "We were all shocked that Dominic was going to go, but the way they ended Charlie Pace's story line was beautifully done and very emotional. I cried when I read the script. So I would rather have a great story line and end earlier."

Source: USA Today