In the highly anticipated second season of Squid Game, South Korean actor Park Sung-hoon will take on the role of a transgender woman in a casting that has received mixed reactions online.
The sequel will premiere on Netflix on Dec 26. It comes three years after the K-drama, about a high-stakes game where players put their lives on the line, became the most-watched series on the streaming platform. The first season in 2021 garnered more than 330 million views.
Park, 39, is known for playing villains in series like The Glory (2022 to 2023) and Queen Of Tears (2024). In Squid Game 2, he will portray Hyun-ju, a former special forces soldier who joins the brutal game to win money for gender reassignment surgery.
In a clip introducing the cast, Park said of Hyun-ju: “Even though she faces prejudice and tough situations, she shows incredible strength, decisiveness and natural leadership. Through her resilience, she breaks down stereotypes and shines as an inspiring character.”
A transgender character in films or TV is rare in conservative South Korea, where there are no laws to protect against discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. And while it seems the character was designed with good intentions, the casting of Park – a cisgender male – in the role of a transgender woman has divided opinions.
While some praised the diversity of the characters in the series and the representation of a minority group, others on social media platforms such as X wondered why the role could not be given to a transgender actress, who might also be raising money for surgery like Hyun-ju.
One netizen wrote: “A (cisgender) man pretending to be part of a minority group just doesn’t sit right with me.”
But others backed the decision. Some felt that given South Korea’s fairly conservative society, where there are hardly any openly queer public figures, a transgender actress would be exposed to intense vitriol if she was cast.
One netizen said: “How do you expect (the production of Squid Game) to find a (transgender) actress who is willing to out herself to get the role, who hasn’t done any gender-affirming surgery, who can act and who is willing to withstand transphobic comments from people from (South Korea) and all over the world?”
Series with LGBTQ characters have come under fire before from conservative groups in South Korea.
In October, the series Love In The Big City (2024) – about a gay man and a straight woman navigating their romantic lives while living together – had to remove its trailer, which featured romantic scenes between men, from YouTube. Conservative groups criticised the show for “glorifying and promoting homosexuality”. – The Straits Times/Asia News Network
