Who is HoYeon Jung aka Kang Sae-byeok / Player 067 from 'Squid Game'?

Netflix's South Korean series the Squid Game has been creating quite a buzz among the audience ever since its release. Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos on Monday confirmed that the series was No1 in the world on the online streaming platform. It follows the story of four hundred and fifty-six people, who have all struggled financially in life, are invited to play a mysterious survival competition. Competing in a series of traditional children's games but with deadly twists, they risk their lives to compete for huge prize money.

The performances of the cast members, along with the storyline and plot were praised by the critics. One particular character, Kang Sae-byeok / Player 067 caught the audiences eye. Player 067 was played by South Korea's top model HoYeon Jung, in her first major role. Read on to find out more about the Squid Game's actor HoYeon Jung.

Who is HoYeon Jung?

HoYeon Jung plays the role Kang Sae-byeok / Player 067, a North Korean defector who enters the Game to pay for a broker that can find and retrieve her surviving family members from the country. HoYeon's debut performance captivated the audience. Jung, who is one of South Korea's top models, was the runner-up on Season 4 of the reality show Korea's Next Top Model. She made her international modelling debut as an exclusive model for the fashion brand Louis Vuitton in 2016. Since then she's had a successful career, walking runways for top fashion houses like Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Prabal Gurung, Jeremy Scott, and Roberto Cavalli. 

In an interview with W Korea, Jung revealed that she was at New York Fashion Week when she was asked to send in an audition tape for Squid Game. The model said, "I remember how I spent all my time reading the script apart from when I ate food. I sent the video in, and the director contacted me, asking me to meet in person. So I dropped everything and flew in right away."

In the same interview, Jung revealed that she was quite similar to her character Kang Sae-byeok in real life. She explained, "More than anything, I think I was able to accept the character without any big challenges because I am similar to her. In 2016, I left Korea to further my modelling career overseas, and I spent a lot of time alone. At the time, the emotion that I felt the most was 'loneliness'… That feeling of loneliness while trying to persevere and live isn’t all that different.'" 

(Image: @netflixkr/Instagram)