The phone number featured in Squid Game is apparently owned by a real-life South Korean man who now says that he's getting a lot of prank calls. Netflix's latest hit debuted this month and quickly became a fan favorite. Created and directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk, Squid Game centers on a game show where participants risk their lives to win a large sum of money.
Inspired by South Korea's penchant for game shows, Squid Game started with 456 people vying for the prize. They play what initially appeared to be harmless traditional children's games, but each one featured a deadly twist. The recruiter, played by Gong Yoo, gave out a business card containing an eight-digit phone number to Seong Gi-hun/No. 456 (Lee Jung-jae), offering him the chance to join. A chauffeur who has a gambling problem, he ultimately decided to take up the offer in the hopes of better supporting his daughter financially. Apparently, the number that the salesman handed out isn't fictional, as a Korean citizen owns it.
As reported by South China Morning Post, a man who's in his 40s living in Gyeonggi Province has been getting around 4,000 phone calls every day since Squid Game premiered on Netflix. The anonymous owner revealed that he first thought they were spam calls, not knowing that his phone number was accidentally revealed through the show. He only realized what was really happening when callers informed him of what happened. The man added that his callers mostly sounded like kids and that they even call him very early in the morning; they also send text messages and photos.
In response to this, a fringe presidential candidate in South Korea offered to buy the phone number. Huh Kyung-young from the National Revolutionary Party is willing to spend 100 million won/$85,000 to acquire the controversial digits from its owner. It's uncertain what the politician's real motives are in this, but in a Facebook post (per the same outlet), he cited the many prank calls that the Gyeonggi resident has been getting after Squid Game's debut in his announcement. Meanwhile, Netflix is reportedly in the process of resolving this issue with the owner of the number. However, it doesn't seem like he's open to selling it, because he's had that number for 10 years.
At this point, it doesn't seem like the parties involved have found a middle ground. But if anything, this is an indication of how popular Squid Game has become for Netflix. Assuming that a second season comes to fruition focusing on another batch of players, however, they better come up with a different phone number that's also sure to be fictional.
Source: South China Morning Post