Squid Game 2 premiered on Netflix on December 26, 2024, and within four days had amassed an astonishing 68 million views, a record for the streaming site. One of the standout characters in the show is undoubtedly the transgender female Cho Hyun-ju, played by Park Sung-hoon. While the casting choice was controversial as some felt the character should have been played by a trans person, Park was widely praised for his performance. A few days after the program was released, though, the actor was in hot water due to an Instagram post.
Park Sung-hoon Uploads Porn Image by Mistake
On December 30, he shared an image on his page depicting the DVD cover art of Squirt Game, a Japanese AV parody of Squid Game, featuring several naked women. The 39-year-old actor, who is known for playing villains in series such as The Glory and Queen of Tears, deleted the post within seconds, but it was too late. Screenshots had already gone viral. Some suggested he might have been hacked. However, his agency, BH Entertainment, later confirmed that there was no hacking involved and that Park had uploaded the image by mistake.
“Park Sung-hoon received an overwhelming number of direct messages on his social media. While checking the DMs, he accidentally uploaded the image,” read the statement.
The following day, the agency revised the statement.
“Actor Park Sung-hoon said yesterday, ‘It was uploaded due to a mistake while checking the DMs,’ but we would like to explain in more detail. Park Sung-hoon received it as a direct message, but he felt it was problematic, so he downloaded the photo in question with the intention of sending it to the company manager. He should have saved it, sent it to the manager, and then deleted it right away, but it was uploaded by mistake.”
Asked why the actor felt he needed to send such a message to his manager, a representative from the agency answered: “I think he decided to send it because he thought it would be a problem that such strange things were floating around about his work.” The representative added, “He is deeply sorry for making such a mistake in these circumstances and promises to be especially careful to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”
Squid Games Director Calls the Parody ‘Unpleasant’
Hwang Dong-hyuk, the writer and director of the series, expressed his disappointment regarding the issue.
“Even during season one, as far as I know, something like this happened overseas,” he said. “Isn’t it common for such things to occur when famous works are released? It’s unpleasant. It completely distorts the meaning of the work itself. I haven’t had a chance to talk to Park Sung-hoon about this issue. It seems like someone sent it to Park Sung-hoon, but I haven’t heard how it ended up being uploaded. Honestly, I also want to know why such a mistake happened.”
