Director Hwang Dong-hyeok and CEO Kim Ji-yeon of ‘Squid Game’ have clarified, saying, “It is completely false” regarding the public suspicion that they pushed the casting for Season 2 to a specific agency.

Director Hwang Dong-hyeok and CEO Kim Ji-yeon of Cyran Pictures, the producer of the Netflix original series ‘Squid Game’, held a press conference about the series with domestic reporters at the Four Seasons Hotel in Gwanghwamun, Jongno-gu, Seoul on August 1, ahead of the release of Season 2 on December 26. This press conference was held four months before the release of Season 2, and the embargo for reporting related content was set for November 13.

On this day, Director Hwang said, “It’s unfair” regarding the rumors that a certain agency was pushing the cast or casting based on personal connections that came out during the casting process for Season 2. The rumors arose when Park Sung-hoon and Lee Jin-wook, who are from the same agency as Lee Byung-hun, and Choi Seung-hyun (Top), who is known to be close friends with Lee Jung-jae and Lee Byung-hun, joined Season 2.

Director Hwang said, “When I was a rookie director, there were cases where someone asked me to do (a casting) without any choice. But there was no director who refused (a casting based on personal connections) as much as I did. He said, “I did (friendship casting) just once when I was a rookie, and I regretted it so much,” and emphasized, “Since then, it has become my principle and philosophy to never do that kind of casting.”

He continued, “Not only in ‘Squid Game,’ but in any of my works, I do not cast actors based on friendship. Most of the time, I discover actors who fit the characters through auditions.”

Meanwhile, season 2 of ‘Squid Game’ contains the fierce confrontation between Ki-hoon (Lee Jung-jae), who returns after vowing revenge and participates in the game of death, and the frontman (Lee Byung-hun) who greets him, as well as the real game starting again.


Reporter Lee Seung-mi smlee@donga.com