Squid Game's Park Sung-hoon has been forced to apologise after sharing an ‘adult’ version of the Netflix series.
The second season of the incredibly popular Netflix show arrived on the streaming platform on Boxing Day (26 December).
As well as Lee Jung-jae returning to the role of Gi-hun, who is hellbent on destroying the Squid Games once and for all, the new series features some new contestants.
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Amongst the new additions to the show, which include former K-pop musicians, T.O.P from BigBang, ZE:A's Yim Si-wan, and Iz*One's Jo Yuri, is Park, who plays Hyun-Ju in the show.
Hyun-Ju is a transgender woman and former Marine, who enters the Squid Games to pay for gender-affirming surgery.
However, the actor has faced a considerable amount of criticism after sharing an explicit image from a porn parody of Squid Game on his social media.
On his Instagram Stories, Park shared the DVD cover of a Japanese porn film called 'Squirt Game' - however, it was swiftly deleted.
In South Korea, distribution of pornographic material is a felony and can result in a one-year prison sentence and a fine.
Some fans initially believed that his account had been hacked, according to Pink News, however, the timing supposedly accentuated the criticism as Korea JoongAng reports that it was apparently posted as the country entered in a seven-day mourning period for the Jeju Air plane crash which occurred on Sunday (29 December).
Some took to Twitter to voice their opinion on the situation, with a few claiming he should be removed from his upcoming TV series, The Tyrant's Chef, Dexerto reports.
Park's representative agency, BH Entertainment, has since released a statement to issue an apology.
They wrote: “Actor Park accidentally posted the image, which he received in a direct message, by mistakenly pressing the wrong button.
"The actor himself was also very shocked. 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.”
Park's casting as a transgender woman also faced some backlash, as many social media users criticised the decision since the actor is a cisgender man.
However, Squid Games' creator, Hwang Dong-hyuk, said to TV Guide that he'd anticipated this 'discussion' when creating the character, adding: "In the beginning we were doing our research, and I was thinking of doing an authentic casting of a trans actor.
"When we researched in Korea, there are close to no actors [who] are openly trans, let alone openly gay, because unfortunately in Korean society the LGBTQ+ community is still marginalised and more neglected, which is heart-breaking."
Netflix also confirmed that they had worked with trans and LGBTQ+ consultants when creating the second season, NBC News reports.
LADbible has contacted Park's representatives and Netflix for comment.
Topics: Squid Game, TV and Film, TV, Netflix
Michael Slavin