Why is Squid Game facing major backlash in Vietnam? Details explored

Squid Game Season 2, recently premiered on Netflix after a wait of about three years, and was an instant hit. While no one can deny the global impact the popular South Korean series over two seasons, there are many among the critics and audiences who feel Season 2 was not as overwhelming as Season 1. Importantly, though the show has been renewed for Season 3, the second season has garnered a few controversies.

The latest controversy that the second season of Squid Game has courted pertains to the Vietnam War. The Vietnamese people are protesting against an allusion to the war in a particular scene, and show could face a boycott in that country.

Vietnam wants to boycott Squid Game for glorifying South Korean participation in the Vietnam War. Read on to know the details of Vietnam's backlash against Season 2.

Which scene from Squid Game Season 2 prompted backlash in Vietnam?

The Vietnamese backlash has happened due to a scene in the story that takes place just after Gi-hun's team wins the second game on Squid Game Season 2. Discussing their team effort, the players gather together and start talking about their lives.

At one point of the drama, Kang Ha-neul's Kang Dae-ho (Player 388) reveals that he has served in the Marines and has four sisters at home. When Gi-hun wonders why his family sent their only son to serve in the Marines, Dae-ho replies that his father wanted him to become a real man.

Kang Dae-ho then talks about his father, saying he was a “Vietnam war veteran.” To this, Gin-hun responds: “Your father must be an honorable man.”

Gi-hun's remarks about glorifying Korean men who participated in the Vietnam War is what has drawn severe backlash of the Vietnamese people.

What has the Vietnam Cinema Department said about this scene in Squid Game Season 2?

Gi-hun's remarks about Dae-ho's father being an "honorable man" because he served in the Vietnam War faced severe backlash in Vietnam because people of that country felt Squid Game was “whitewash[ing] the atrocities” in an attempt to glorify South Koreans for their participation in the Vietnam War, according to a Screen Rant report.

According to a Vietnamese newspaper, Lao Dong, Vietnam's Cinema Department is reviewing the particular scene in Squid Game to see if it violates the nation’s film laws. If the scene is found to violate the law and the sentiments of the Vietnamese people, the show can suffer censorship and even boycott in Vietnam.

Since Vietnam and South Korea share a complicated political history, the show also faces major backlash from Vietnamese people on social media, who are demanding to remove this particular scene from the show.

This is not the first time Vietnam has opposed a South Korean show. The 2022 South Korean show, Little Women, was also removed from Netflix Vietnam despite it being the number one TVN show because it showed a character earning a 'military merit' after fighting in the war. In that case, too, Vietnamese people felt the show glorified South Korean participation, and Little Women was subsequently removed from Netflix Vietnam.

While a decision is yet to be taken on Squid Game, the global blockbuster show could suffer the same fate as Little Women in Vietnam if authorities of the nation find it offensive.