SEOUL, Nov 3 — Fans of South Korean series Squid Game fans were excited about the release of a teaser on November 1 revealing old and new characters led by Player 456 in last season’s winner, Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) leading the lethal games.
New faces spotted in the trailer include T.O.P. (real name Choi Seung-hyun formerly of Big Bang), Jo Yu-ri (former Iz*One), Im Si-wan (member of ZE:A and sub-group ZE:A Five) and veteran actor Song Young-chang.
Song’s split second appearance in the trailer, however, has sparked controversy given his past sex crime conviction, reported KBIZoom.
In September 2000, Song was convicted of underage prostitution where he reportedly paid US$150 (RM657) for sexual intercourse with a 16-year-old girl twice in a car and sentenced to 10 months of suspended prison term, along with two years of probation.
The actor barely served a month in prison before he was out on probation, quickly moving to Canada with his family to “study English” upon his release, where he appeared in a few musicals.
Song’s unenviable reputation as the first person in the Korean entertainment industry to be convicted of underage prostitution saw him banned from major broadcast channels such as KBS, MBC, and EBS.
He has however appeared in multiple K-Dramas and movies in supporting roles after returning to Korea.
The inclusion of T.O.P. formerly of Big Bang was also previously hotly debated. — Screenshot from Youtube/netflix
The controversy over Song’ s inclusion isn’ t Squid Game 2’s first controversy as T.O.P (who received two years suspended sentence for drug use) and Oh Dal-soo (accused of sexual assault but the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution had expired) were among cast members fans pointed out as having a problematic past.
