How Squid Game brought prestige to South Korea but also reflected a dark side

The most successful South Korean TV series in history, Squid Game sped up a golden age of ‘Hallyu’ while provoking serious conversations

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Lee Jung-jae in a still from Squid Game Season 3, which recorded more than 60 million views in its first three days and topped leaderboards in 93 countries for two consecutive weeks. Photo: No Ju-han/Netflix

Published: 7:15pm, 9 Jul 2025

The third and final season of Netflix’s Squid Game broke viewer records on the streaming platform following its release on June 27, marking a fitting close for what has arguably been the most successful South Korean TV series in history.

Although reviews have been mixed, Season 3 recorded more than 60 million views in the first three days and topped leaderboards in 93 countries for two consecutive weeks, making it Netflix’s biggest launch to date.

Squid Game has been transformative for South Korea, with much of the domestic reaction focused not on the plot, but on the prestige it has brought to the country.

In Seoul, fans celebrated with a parade to commemorate the show’s end, shutting down major roads to make way for a marching band and a parade of characters from the show.

Fans of Squid Game hold signs before a parade through central Seoul, which was followed by a fan event with the cast to celebrate the third season of Netflix’s hit series, on June 28, 2025. Photo: Reuters

In one section of the procession, a phalanx of the show’s masked guards, dressed in their trademark pink uniforms, carried neon-lit versions of the coffins that appear on the show to carry away the losers of the survival game. They were joined by actors playing the contestants, who lurched along wearing expressions of exaggerated horror, as though the cruel stakes of the game had just been revealed to them.

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