Shown above is a scene from South Korea’s Netflix original series Squid Game. The eight-episode thriller bagged a total of six Primetime Emmy Awards this year. Photo courtesy of Netflix

Director Hwang and actor Lee making history

South Korean Netflix original drama “Squid Game” has become the first non-English language series to be nominated for this year's Primetime Emmy Awards.

And the eight-part show went down in history on Sept. 13 by becoming the first non-English language series whose actor and director won Emmys.

Squid Game director Hwang Dong-hyuk won outstanding director, and Lee Jung-jae won outstanding lead actor in this year’s drama category of the Primetime Emmy Awards.

On top of them, Squid Game took home four other Emmy Awards after being nominated in 14 categories.

Hwang beat Jason Bateman of “Ozark,” Karyn Kusama of “Yellowjackets,” Ben Stiller of “Severance” and Mark Mylod/Cathy Yan/Lorene Scafaria of “Succession.”

The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences hosted the 74th edition of the annual award for TV and streaming content, which is one of four major U.S. entertainment prizes along with the Grammys for music, the Oscars for movies, and the Tonys for theater.

“Since Squid Game got 14 nominations at the Emmys, People keep telling me like I made history. But I don’t think I made history by myself because it was you who opened up the doors for Squid Game, inviting us here tonight at the Emmys,” he said.

“So, I believe, I have to say we made all history together. And I truly hope Squid Game won’t be the last non-English series to be here at the Emmys. And I also hope this won’t be my last Emmy either. I will be back with season two, thank you.”

Squid Game is a dystopian show involving hundreds of cash-strapped contestants playing a total of six rounds of deadly childhood games.

The eventual winner is designed to win up to $40 million, but losers should risk lives in the survival games.

Since its first premiere last September, Squid Game has become the most successful Netflix drama ever. It attracted 1.65 billion hours of viewing in the first four weeks after its debut.

Hwang is scheduled to direct the sequel of the most-viewed show on the global streaming platform (See the Korea News Plus article published on June 13 this year).
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