Director Hwang Dong-hyuk talked about the various reactions since the release of ‘Squid Game Season 2’.

On the 2nd, Director Hwang Dong-hyuk met with Donga.com for an interview about the Netflix series ‘Squid Game Season 2 (hereafter referred to as Squid Game 2)’ at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, and talked about the series.

Director Hwang Dong-hyuk began by saying, “The results have come out, and the good results have made it to number 1 in the world, so I‘m grateful for that. I felt a lot of pressure, but I think it’s a good thing that we‘ve been able to deliver good news at the end of the year and in the new year. It’s been a week where I‘m grateful to be able to deliver good news.”Regarding the various reactions to Season 2, Director Hwang Dong-hyuk said, “Season 1 was a work that came out without any expectations. Season 2 didn’t have the freshness of Season 1, so it was hard to expect the same response as Season 1. I thought it was right to tell my story. Rather than trying to expand it, I tried to tell the story I wanted to tell. There was no story that was hard to accept. Since expectations were high on both sides, I thought it wouldn‘t be easy to satisfy everyone anyway. I thought there would be some dissatisfaction because it wasn’t completely finished and I moved on to Season 3. I thought I had to endure that and move on. If there were people who felt betrayed, I thought there was no other way than to show Season 3 and get it evaluated quickly.“



Regarding the beginning of this ‘Squid Game 2’, Director Hwang Dong-hyeok said, ”I actually started writing Season 1 10 years ago, and I rewrote it. I wanted to talk about an era where everyone lives for themselves, where competition is fierce and consideration for those who fall behind is decreasing. In the meantime, the world changed really quickly and in a bad way. What I noticed was that as conflicts and divisions increased, the world became one where people extremely hated each other. I thought that the reason the world became like this was not because of us. Who created this world? I thought it was the people in power. The people who created this system were the people above, but when I look at the world now, I thought that we were the ones fighting. I still see it now. I thought that was frustrating. That’s why Sung Ki-hoon’s rebellion had that meaning. I really wanted to say that anger should be directed upwards. It’s reckless and seems like it’ll fail, but I wanted to make Sung Ki-hoon a person who tries to do something like that.”

Director Hwang Dong-hyeok explained, “Sung Ki-hoon, who went through a lot in season 2 and is different from season 1, is like Don Quixote, who realizes not only his own shortcomings but also the world’s system that made us like this, and tries to change the system. There aren’t many people like this in society today. However, I wanted to show the figure of a person like this in this world who eventually becomes frustrated and gradually changes even the good intentions he had at the beginning, and collapses. A different Sung Ki-hoon is revealed in season 3. At that point, I put that scene in,” he said.

‘Squid Game’s season 3 is about to be released, and when asked about his next project, director Hwang Dong-hyeok said, “I thought about my next project, but it’s too hard. There’s still season 3 left. Right now, I’m not thinking about my next project at all. I plan to finish season 3 safely and rest. I lost 7 teeth, and I think I’ll lose 1-2 more. It feels like my lifespan has been shortened by 7-8 years. It was such a difficult process physically and mentally, so I’m so exhausted right now. I don’t think it’s possible to do a season system alone in Korea. There are also multiple writers, so it seems like it can only go on for a long time. Season 2 came out after 3 years and 3 months, and I did it alone, so there’s nothing I can do. I don’t think I can do it again. I think I need to pull myself together physically and mentally and think about my next project.”

Meanwhile, ‘Squid Game 2’, released on December 26, 2024, depicts the story of Ki-hoon (played by Lee Jung-jae), who vows revenge and returns to participate in the game, and the fierce confrontation between the frontman (played by Lee Byung-hun) who greets him, and the real game starting again.

Choi Yoon-na, Donga.com reporter yyynnn@donga.com