S. Korea Netflix Mega Hit 'Squid Game' Premieres in Seoul after Martial Law

Squid Game is back. Netflix's most popular show ever, a dystopian South Korean vision of divided society, premieres its highly-anticipated second season on Monday as Seoul battles real-life policial chaos.
The show's return comes just days after South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol triggered a national crisis by briefly declaring martial law, until he was forced into a dramatic reversal by determined lawmakers, who battled heavily-armed soldiers in parliament to vote it down, AFP said.
Yoon remains in office having survived an impeachment bid, with his party accused of staging a "second coup" to cling on to power, the opposition vowing to try to remove him again, and massive street protests expected this weekend.
"Squid Game", an ultra-violent tale exploring themes of division and inequality, is considered to be one of the most significant works in solidifying South Korea's status as a global cultural powerhouse, alongside the Oscar-winning film "Parasite" and K-pop megastars BTS.
Hwang Dong-hyuk, who wrote and directed both seasons of the show, said he was feeling "heavy-hearted" by what happened in his country ahead of the show's second season red carpet premiere on Monday, with global release set for December 26.
"It is extremely unfortunate and infuriating... that the entire nation cannot sleep due to such absurd circumstances," he said at a press conference in Seoul.
Due to the political chaos, South Koreans have had "to take to the streets, and must spend the end of the year filled with anxiety, fear, and depression," he said, adding he had stayed up all night to watch the martial law events unfold in live news broadcasts.
He urged "the person responsible" for the real-life drama, President Yoon, to accept responsibility "whether it is through impeachment or voluntary resignation."
'In the abyss'
Squid Game Season 2 introduces several new young characters, including a "crypto expert" who has amassed significant debt and a transgender person who cannot afford gender confirmation surgery.
The main protagonist, Seong Gi-hun, played by megastar Lee Jung-jae, returns and joins the game again.
The second season takes place -- spoiler alert -- three years after Gi-hun won first time around, and he is determined to bring down the organization responsible for the violent life-and-death games.
The original show, released in 2021, was a high point for the "Hallyu" or Korean wave -- the seemingly inexorable rise of South Korean content first noticed by many in the West after Psy's 2012 breakout hit song "Gangnam Style".
But embattled President Yoon has put all this at risk, 3,000 people in the film industry said in a statement this week.
Hallyu has "fallen into the abyss" thanks to Yoon's decision to declare martial law, the group, which includes luminaries like "Parasite" director Bong Joon-ho, said Sunday.
During the six hours of martial law, it was announced that "all media and publications shall be subject to the control of the Martial Law Command".
"No matter how much cinematic imagination is employed, what seems like a mere delusion has happened in reality," the statement by the South Koreans in the film industry said, calling for Yoon's exit and arrest.
"For Korean filmmakers, Yoon Suk Yeol is no longer the president. He is just a red-handed criminal for treason."
Most watched show
The show's first season was loosely inspired by South Korea's real-life tragedy of a crackdown on a 2009 Ssangyong Motor strike, which resulted in around 30 people taking their own lives or dying of stress-related causes.
The series highlighted some of the most marginalized individuals in the fiercely competitive South, like a North Korean defector and a laid-off, indebted worker.
The story unfolds as they compete in traditional children's games for a chance to win an unimaginable fortune in somewhat mysterious circumstances, with all losing players facing death.
The first season still holds the record as the streaming giant's most popular series of all time, boasting more than 330 million views as of Monday.
Hwang said Monday the reason why the first season of "Squid Game" was so successful was because it had "links" to the real-life "society we live in".
Even in the upcoming second season, viewers will be able to "find scenes that connect the absurd conflicts, divisions, and upheavals happening in our country and around the world," he said.
"Watching 'Squid Game' will not come across as something that is particularly detached from how we view the world."

Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio blend fighting techniques to train a new karate kid in the latest instalment of the martial arts movie franchise.

"Karate Kid: Legends", released this week, stars Ben Wang as Beijing kung fu whizz Li Fong who moves with his mother to New York, where he befriends pizza restaurant owner and retired boxer Victor and his daughter Mia.

When that friendship irks a local karate champion, Li enters a karate tournament and begins training with his old kung fu teacher Mr. Han, played by Chan, and Macchio's Daniel LaRusso, the protagonist of the original 1984 film "The Karate Kid" who learned karate from mentor Mr. Miyagi.

"They presented the concept to me ... connecting the Miyagi to the Han family and how that made sense ... I was like 'That's kind of clever. Okay, so how do we maintain this connective tissue into Li Fong's story that is organic and truthful'," Macchio told Reuters in a joint interview with Chan and Wang.

"That was the challenge at first and figuring that out. Working with Jackie was like, 'Woohoo sign me up - when, where?' And then who's the kid? If we don't love this kid, then you have no movie. So all those, like it happens with 'The Karate Kid' universe, is magic dust that comes down and somehow it continues to resonate. So I'm excited for the next generation version."

The movie is Macchio's fourth "Karate Kid" film playing LaRusso, a character he also portrayed in the "Cobra Kai" television series.

Chan reprises the role of Mr. Han, a character he first played in the 2010 film "The Karate Kid" opposite Jaden Smith.

"Now we've both become a Miyagi," Chan said, referring to both his and Macchio's characters becoming mentors.

"I remember when I saw the first one. Why him (Macchio)? Why not me? ... I want to be 'The Karate Kid'. (Now) We work together."

Wang, 25, said Chan's 2010 film introduced him to the franchise.

"Stepping into it, it's a terrifying thing in a certain way because it's a beloved franchise and ... the fans love it so much, so I want to do right by them," he said. "But it's also a great honor because a lot of people auditioned for this part, so I know how special and lucky it is that I get to do this with the two of them."

S. Korea Netflix Mega Hit 'Squid Game' Premieres in Seoul after Martial Law