North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un and senior members of the DPRK are probably "thrilled" about the release of Netflix's latest smash-hit series 'Squid Game', several experts in the region's politics have suggested because the highly popular series shows DPRK's southern neighbour in an extremely unflattering light, as a place where ultra-competitive capitalism has taken over and exerts its negative influence over ordinary people.
"Kim’s got to be thrilled at how South Korea is being depicted to the world. He’s always railing about the influence of the West and consumerism and of South Korean and American society. He’s got to be loving 'Squid Game'," Michael Madden, a non-resident fellow at US-based think-tank The Stimson Centre, said in an interview with the New York Post.
Gordon Chang, another political expert and author of 'Losing South Korea', suggested that series such as 'Squid Game' and films such as Oscar-winning 'Parasite' by director Bong Joon-ho, undermine the faith South Koreans have in their own government and add a certain appeal to the promises of the communist DPRK to the extent that some people favour reunification with the North.
"[These filmmakers] make South Korea look horrific – even though it’s really not that bad — and the North Koreans love this and are taking advantage of it. They all think they’re involved in this existential struggle," Chang said.
'Squid Game' became an unexpected hit overshadowing every other series on Netflix around the world with an estimated number of viewers topping 130 million. The series tells a story of several hundred heavily indebted South Koreans, who agree to take part in children's games to try to win a prize of 45.6 billion won ($38 million). However, failure means death and only one of the contestants has the chance to walk away alive with the prize.