Netflix mega hit 'Squid Game' premieres in Seoul after martial law

Netflix's most popular show ever, "Squid Game" 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.

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."

Squid Game Season 2 introduces several new young characters, including a "crypto expert" who has amassed significant debt. The main protagonist, Seong Gi-hun, played by megastar Lee Jung-jae, returns and joins the game again.

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.

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 marginalised 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."