Lee Jung Jae, BTS, BLACKPINK, and more Koreans bombarded the world with their talents this year.
With the rise of demand for K-pop and Korean content across the globe, the public shifted their attention to South Korea even more. In response to this, artists from different industries made this year extra special by releasing more songs, movies, and series.
For instance, Squid Game became an instant hit on Netflix this year. K-pop artists also released more songs and broke world records.
Before this year ends, the South Korean government launched a big move to recognize the top talents that brought change to the country.
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Who is Top Korean of 2021?
The official multilingual portal of the South Korean government, Korea.net, released the seven nominees for the Top Korean honor. They based the selection on the number of articles they published this year.
After long deliberation, the seven artists that secured a spot include Squid Game director Hwang Dong Hyuk, actor Lee Jung Jae, Youn Yuh Jung, Son Heung Nim, Kim Yeon Koung, BTS, and BLACKPINK. Among the nominees, director Hwang Dong Hyuk ultimately became 2021's Top Korean, outshining all other nominees.
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Several writers of the website revealed that the director deserves the spot since his Squid Game is a masterpiece that proved the Korean series' cinematic quality. They also noted that it became the first Korean drama to ever score a huge achievement on the over-the-top market.
Squid Game became the first Korean TV show to score the most-watched series on Netflix, garnering 1.65 billion hours of viewing in the first 28 days since its release. It continued to rule the list until another Korean show, Hellbound, took over the title.
Hwang Dong Hyuk Shares Good News Following Top Korean Win
Following his individual success for his work, the filmmaker shared to KBS that his series had already begun its talks with Netflix for seasons 2 and 3.
"I'm currently in the midst of discussions with Netflix about Season 2 and Season 3," he revealed. "I think we'll be reaching some sort of conclusion [to our discussions] soon…we know that many people are waiting, so everyone is working hard to prepare for the next season with a positive outlook."
He also hinted that the next installment would focus on Lee Jung Jae's Seong Gi Hun and how he solves the mystery of the organization that created the Squid Game.
It remains unknown what's their target release date, but it would surely be a hit once again.
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Check back for more stories, updates, and rumors about Squid Game director Hwang Dong Hyuk and actor Lee Jung Jae here at EpicStream
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