Hwang Dong-hyuk: "Reality is 'Ojingeo Game'... Cannot Trust Martial Law"

"Whether impeachment or resignation, responsibility must be taken as soon as possible"
Season 2 highlights pros and cons voting "Connected to reality"

"I think watching 'Squid Game' is not particularly detached from looking at this world."

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This is what director Hwang Dong-hyuk said ahead of the release of Netflix's 'Squid Game' Season 2. Referring to conflicts, divisions, and upheavals revealed by President Yoon Suk-yeol's declaration of martial law and the rejection of impeachment, he stated that "these can be connected to scenes in 'Squid Game.'"

At the 'Squid Game' Season 2 production press conference held on the 9th at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, he said about the declaration of martial law, "I couldn't believe it, so I stayed up all night watching TV. It makes me angry that the entire nation has to spend the end of the year in fear and depression because of such an absurd event." He added, "Whether it's impeachment or resignation, I hope those responsible take accountability as soon as possible and return a happy year-end to the people."

'Squid Game' is a work that contains serious social issues and conflicts. Director Hwang metaphorically expressed the divisions, conflicts, and hatred arising worldwide due to religion, ideology, background, gender, race, and more. He aimed to symbolically represent the increasingly intense flow in Season 2. A representative device is voting. The groups divided into O and X are depicted in detail, showing how they split, hate each other, confront, and conflict.

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Director Hwang said, "There has been a lot of talk about voting recently," and explained, "The approval and disapproval vote briefly introduced in Season 1 will be conducted in every game in Season 2 and will be treated as an important element." He added, "There will be many interesting parts when connecting voting with reality."

Another feature he pointed out is the younger age range of game participants compared to the previous work. He said, "Until I wrote the script for Season 1, I thought you had to be a certain age to experience social failure and go into debt," and continued, "Over the past few years, I felt the younger generation giving up earning money through labor and relying on a windfall due to the coin (cryptocurrency) craze. To capture their issues, I cast younger participants."

'Squid Game' Season 2 also differs in story structure from the previous season. In Season 1, Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), a bottom-tier life person, participated in the game aiming for a windfall. Season 2 is about him, who has become a billionaire, desperately trying to stop the game.

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Director Hwang said, "The core story is the confrontation between Seong Gi-hun, who tries to find out who is running this game and stop it, and the Front Man (Lee Byung-hun), who tries to block and destroy him." He continued, "Conflicts are intensifying not only in Korea but worldwide. When you see humans splitting, dividing, and hostile to each other, you will realize that reality resembles 'Squid Game.' I hope this society and this world get a chance to be reflected upon through 'Squid Game.'"