But the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s undermined the nation’s positive growth story and “made everyone fight for themselves.” “South Koreans used to have a collective community spirit,” said Yun Suk-jin, a drama critic and professor of modern literature at Chungnam National University. “There’s a very good chance it will be our biggest show ever,” Ted Sarandos, a co-chief executive at Netflix, said during a recent business conference. “Squid Game” is now the top-ranked show in the United States on Netflix and is on its way to becoming one of the most-watched shows in the streaming service’s history. Those similarities have helped turn the nine-episode drama into an unlikely international sensation. Koo sees a growing competition to grab a slice of a shrinking pie, just like the contestants in “Squid Game.” Like many young people in South Korea and elsewhere, Mr. Koo, who got by on freelance gigs and government unemployment checks after he lost his steady job, said it is “almost impossible to live comfortably with a regular employee’s salary” in a city with runaway housing prices. Koo, who binge-watched “ Squid Game” in a single night, said he empathized with the characters and their struggle to survive in the country’s deeply unequal society. Koo Yong-hyun, a 35-year-old office worker in Seoul, has never had to face down masked homicidal guards or competitors out to slit his throat, like the characters in the show do.

SEOUL - In “ Squid Game,” the hit dystopian television show on Netflix, 456 people facing severe debt and financial despair play a series of deadly children’s games to win a $38 million cash prize in South Korea.

House of death game