‘Squid Game,’ Netflix’s Most-Watched Show, Completes Casting for Second Season

“Squid Game” surprised both Netflix executives and the largely South Korean cast when it became a global phenomenon in the fall of 2021. The show revolves around a competition in which 456 debt-ridden contestants chase a single cash prize of about $40 million by playing traditional Korean children’s games on a secluded island. The dystopian element: Losers die.

Netflix earlier announced the return of four original cast members, including Lee Jung-jae, who won an Emmy award for the best actor in a drama series, in his role as game participant Seong Gi-hun. Also returning are Lee Byung-hun, who played the masked Front Man overseeing the competition; Wi Ha-jun, who played a police detective; and Gong Yoo, whose character charmed and manipulated strangers into playing the game.

Doubling down on South Korean shows has become a key tactic for Netflix, seeking to keep viewers content and profits healthy at a challenging time. Last year it posted its first drop in subscribers in a decade. In response, Netflix has launched a lower-priced, ad-supported tier to its streaming service and begun to limit password sharing.

Shows like “Squid Game,” which hit No. 1 in more than 90 countries, have demonstrated Korean content’s crossover appeal—ever more important as Netflix strives to create hit franchises that retain current subscribers and tempt new ones. South Korean shows have become regulars in the ranks of Netflix’s most-watched non-English-language shows globally. The chart toppers include “The Glory,” a revenge drama about school bullying, and “Extraordinary Attorney Woo,” about a lawyer on the autism spectrum. 

The number of hours that Netflix users spent watching South Korean shows and films rose sixfold from 2019 to 2022, the company said. And among Netflix’s more than 230 million subscribers, 60% had watched at least one South Korean show as of last year.

Netflix said in April it would invest $2.5 billion in South Korea over the next four years to produce TV series, films and reality shows, after having invested more than $7 billion since 2016. 

“It’s been an amazing partnership between the Korean creative community and Netflix,” Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos said during a press conference in Seoul this month. “But I believe we’re just scratching the surface of what’s possible. It’s why Netflix is investing for the long term.”

Netflix has backed many K-dramas with the biggest budgets and turned their actors, actresses and creators into global celebrities. 

But some South Korean content creators have called for more sharing of successful shows’ profits, echoing concerns central to the Hollywood writers’ strike. Byun Seung-min,

“South Korean creators have various concerns, including around profit distribution,” said Byun, Climax’s CEO. “We hope [Netflix] can work together on ways to expand profits.”

Sarandos, who was on a panel with Byun, said Netflix is committed to “mutual growth” with the South Korean content industry and reiterated that the streaming giant compensates creators and production studios at the “very top of the market” to best support their projects. 

“Squid Game” creator Hwang Dong-hyuk had spent a decade unsuccessfully pitching the idea to local studios, which called it too grotesque and too unrealistic. The show made history last year as the first non-English-language series nominated for an Emmy Award in a major category. It racked up 14 Emmy nominations and won six awards—including one for Hwang as best director. 

Not returning to the cast is O Yeong-su, who made history as the first South Korean actor to win a Golden Globe Award as best supporting actor in television for his work as Oh Il-nam or Player 001. The 78-year-old is on trial in South Korea after being indicted last year on charges of sexual misconduct, which he has denied. Lawyers representing O declined to comment.

Write to Jiyoung Sohn at [email protected]