SEOUL – Netflix Korea announced the new cast for the second season of the sensational series Squid Game, which became a global hit in 2021, on Sunday.

Joining the original cast of Lee Jung-jae, Lee Byung-hun, Wi Ha-joon and Gong Yoo will be four new actors – Yim Si-wan, Kang Ha-neul, Park Sung-hoon and Yang Dong-geun.

Yim most recently starred in the Netflix thriller flick Unlocked (2023), while Park played a villain in Netflix’s The Glory (2023). Kang was the lead actor in hit TV drama When The Camellia Blooms (2019) and Yang appeared in Netflix action flick Yaksha: Ruthless Operations (2022).

Netflix Korea introduced the new faces during Tudum, a global fan event that was held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, without revealing the roles they will play.

Lee Jung-jae will continue to play a lead role in the sequel, the streaming platform said, along with Lee Byung-hun who starred as Front Man in the first season. Wi, who played a police officer who goes undercover in the deadly games to find his missing brother, and Gong, who recruited the participants for the survival game, will return as well.

With Squid Game, Lee Jung-jae became the first South Korean actor to win an Emmy for lead actor in a drama series for the award’s 74th edition in 2022.

Shooting for the second season will begin during the second half of 2023, Netflix Korea said.

In 2021, director Hwang Dong-hyuk’s dystopian take on children’s games gained popularity immediately after its release, reaching 111 million fans globally as Netflix’s biggest series launch. It also became the most watched show on Netflix with 1.6 billion hours.

After the series’ stunning success, Netflix said it would double down on South Korean content, pouring US$2.5 billion (S$3.35 billion) over the next four years. Between 2015 and 2020, Netflix’s investment in K-content amounted to some US$700 million, producing about 80 Korean films and series. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK