There’s no one else who’d know better just how much the Netflix hit, Squid Game, has become a pop culture phenomenon than the Korean actress Jung Ho-yeon. Prior to the premiere of the show on September 17, Jung had just 400,000 followers on Instagram. The actress, who plays North Korean defector Kang Sae-byeok or #67, now boasts 13.7 million followers as of October 5.
She has taken over other popular K-drama actresses, Lee Sung-hyung of ‘Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo’ and Song Hye-kyo of ‘The Descendants of the Sun’ fame, as the most followed Korean actress on Instagram.
Jung told Herald POP on October 1 that she was “very surprised” by the growing numbers.
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“When I opened the app once, the number went up, and when I opened it again, it went up further. I thought that the love for Squid Game was being reflected in numbers, like fate, and I was thankful. Just the fact that so many people around the world are showing their interest puts me in a good mood.”
A few of Jung’s co-stars have also joined the bandwagon and hopped on to garner massive followership, including Lee Jung-jae and Park Hae-soo, who play Seong Gi-hun (#456) and Cho Sang-woo (#218) in the show, respectively. Lee gained 1.3 million followers while Park garnered over 750,000 in just a day.
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Squid Game marks Jung’s first stint as an actor, after her career as a model.
The Netflix series features 456 cash-strapped contestants who fight against each other in several deadly games for a prize of 45.6 billion won (US$38.66 million).
“The action-horror series could become the streaming service’s most popular show yet globally,” said Netflix’s co-chief executive, Ted Sarandos.
“We did not see that coming, in terms of its global popularity,” he said.
