Netflix’s hit Korean-language series Squid Game is facing controversy after it was revealed that actor Park Sung-hoo will join the season two cast in the role of Hyun-Ju, a transgender woman.
Park, 39, is a cisgender male actor known for his roles in various K-Dramas, including The Glory and The Queen of Tears.
Speaking about his character in a new season two “Meet the Cast” featurette, Park explained that Hyun-Ju is a former special forces soldier who joins the life-or-death games to fund her gender-affirming surgery.
“Even though she faces prejudices and tough situations, she shows incredible strength, decisiveness, and natural leadership. Through her resilience, she breaks down stereotypes and shines as an inspiring character,” he said.
The inclusion of a transgender character in a Korean drama is a big deal for a traditional country where same-sex marriage is still not legally recognized, yet many viewers remained upset that the series didn’t cast a transgender actor in the role.
“This is not how you give representation… a cis man pretending to be part of a minority group just doesn’t sit right with me, especially when they could’ve hired an actual trans actress,” one person wrote on X/Twitter.
“Could they not cast an actual transgender woman… this gonna piss me off,” a second agreed. “Just let a trans woman do it,” a third said.
Meanwhile, another stepped in to remind people that “it’s South Korea and they ain’t that flexible in this trans or lgbtq thingy. Where do you want to find a trans woman especially in the industry.”
“While I get these comments, I really do, I just wanna say that this discourse comes up everytime someone plays a queer and/or trans person. This is a Korean show (!!) that takes a tiny step forward to showing representation. If we only had trans and queer people play these rolesl, we probably wouldn’t have a huge part of the representation we have gotten in media over the last 8 decades,” a second said.
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“Some of our favorite queer characters were played by cis people. Even though getting an actual trans actress would’ve been even better, as a trans person I’m excited to see this character and am looking forward to the actor’s performance.”
Season two of Squid Game premieres on Netflix on December 26.
The official description for the new series states: “Three years after winning Squid Game, Player 456 remains determined to find the people behind the game and put an end to their vicious sport. Using this fortune to fund his search, Gi-hun starts with the most obvious of places: look for the man in a sharp suit playing ddakji in the subway. But when his efforts finally yield results, the path toward taking down the organization proves to be deadlier than he imagined: to end the game, he needs to re-enter it.”