(Bloomberg) — Squid Game auteur Hwang Dong-hyuk has joined calls by hundreds of Korean actors and directors to impeach or oust President Yoon Suk-yeol, pitting one of the country’s most powerful industries against the embattled leader.
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Hwang, who won global acclaim for creating Netflix Inc.’s most popular show of all time, used a press briefing in Seoul Monday ahead of the second season’s launch to blast Yoon for his now-revoked martial law decree. Yoon survived an impeachment motion over the weekend for his move, which plunged the country into its worst political crisis in about four decades.
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Calling the situation “ridiculous,” the 52-year-old pointed out how divisions in society like those in his 2021 and upcoming series were fueling chaos around the world.
“It’s unfortunate and infuriating that the whole country has to spend the end of the year with fear, anxiety, and depression because of this ridiculous situation,” Hwang told reporters. “I hope that the person who is responsible for this situation takes responsibility as soon as possible, whether it is through impeachment or voluntary resignation, so that we can have a blessed year-end.”
On Sunday, more than 3,000 film professionals, including Parasite director Bong Joon-ho and Old Boy director Park Chan-wook, issued a statement calling for Yoon’s exit.
Netflix and Hwang decided to move ahead with the scheduled event despite the political crisis. The nation of 50 million is grappling with the uncertainty stemming from Yoon’s decision last week which has raised profound questions about his leadership and Korea’s stability. It also took its closest ally US by surprise.
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Hwang’s brief comments stood out during an hour-long session during which he mostly answered questions about his show’s second season, debuting after Christmas. He joins academics, officials, and ordinary citizens in calling for Yoon to answer for his actions. Last week, Nobel Prize-winning author Han Kang — whose book Human Acts is credited for educating succeeding generations about the violent aftermath of a 1979 military coup — also spoke out publicly against the events of Dec. 3.
The first season of Squid Game is Netflix’s most-watched series to date, drawing a record 330 million views with more than 2.8 billion viewing hours. Netflix has ambitions to turn the series — a violent parable about the extent to which people will go to best each other — into one of its largest global franchises. It plans a third and final season in 2025.
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