Fans were divided
Netflix’s hugely successful Korean-language series Squid Game has been hit with controversy after it was revealed actor Park Sung-hoon will join the season two cast playing the part of a transgender woman.
Park, 39, is a cisgender male actor who raise to fame after appearing in K-Dramas such as 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.
He explained: “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.”
sSame-sex marriage is still not legally recognised in the country so it is a big deal for a Korean drama to include a transgender character.
However, some viewers are upset that the series didn’t cast a transgender actor in the role.
One viewer took to X to say: “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.”
A second said: “Could they not cast an actual transgender woman… this gonna piss me off.”
However, others defended the decision, reminding fans that the country is very different to here.
They said: “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.”
A second echoed this: “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 roles, we probably wouldn’t have a huge part of the representation we have gotten in media over the last 8 decades.”
A third person who identified themselves as a trans person was also supportive of the character.
The wrote: “Some of our favourite 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 premieres on Netflix on Boxing Day December 26.
