ktown konnection #49 | "Squid Game 2" breaks records, Lee Min-ho returns

IN THIS ISSUE:

• ◯△▢ “Squid Game 2” breaks premiere records

• Jeju Air crash under investigation

• Korea’s political saga continues: Pres. Yoon’s pending arrest

PREMIERES

• January 3 ”Love Scout” (SBS)(Viki)

• January 4 “When The Stars Gossip” (tvN)(Netflix)

• January 6 “The Queen Who Crowns” (tvN)(Viki)

Happy New Year As they say, the future is now. Happy 2025 and Year of the Snake. (You can read your zodiac horoscope here.)

New premieres Written by “Iron Family” scribe Seo Sook-hyang, romcom “When The Stars Gossip” blends with sci-fi, following an astronaut played by Gong Hyo-jin (“When The Camellia Blooms”) and a space tourist (Lee Min-ho, “Pachinko”).

Historical sageuk “The Queen Who Crowns” promises heavy drama and power plays with Cha Joo-young (“The Glory”) in the eponymous role. Han Ji-min (“Behind Your Touch”) and Lee Jun-hyuk (“Stranger”) pair up in office romance “Love Scout.”

(Note: No official trailers for “Love Scout” and “The Queen Who Crowns” had English subtitled versions yet from their broadcast networks nor their US distributor Viki, and I hesitate to include bootlegs.)

What I’m watching It was with cautious expectation that I watched season 2 of “Squid Game”; I share my thoughts below. Otherwise: (casually) watching “Who Is She” and skimmed through “Love Your Enemy.” (For the record: I loathe when storylines end with a wedding. Aim higher.)

Freshly bingeable “Love Your Enemy” (12 eps).

Wednesday-Thursday January 1-2
“Who Is She” (KBS)(Viki)

Friday-Saturday January 3-4
“When The Phone Rings” (MBC)(Netflix)
“Love Scout” (SBS)(Viki)

Saturday-Sunday January 4-5
“Iron Family” (KBS)(Viki)
“Check-in Hanyang” (Channel A)(Viki)
“When The Stars Gossip” (tvN)(Netflix)

Monday-Tuesday January 6-7
“Namib” (ENA/Genie TV)(Viki)
“The Queen Who Crowns” (tvN)(Viki)

(*Streaming platforms shown are for U.S. only; distributors vary by country.)

KDRAMA/FILM/TV/ETC.

Among Top 10 Global Titles Today (1/2/25) 🌎 “Squid Game 2,” “When The Phone Rings.” FlixPatrol 

Korea’s watching: 📺 “Iron Family,” “When The Phone Rings,” “The Fiery Priest 2” (Dec 23-29). dramabeans

🇰🇷 box office 🍿: “Harbin” takes the top spot. Variety

◯△▢ record premiere “Squid Game 2” broke streaming premiere records for Netflix, with 68M views in its first four days. THR

Global OTT news: Apple TV+ is free. No, really. For the first weekend of 2025, January 3-5, Apple TV+ is offering free streaming globally.

About season 2 of “Squid Game” [spoilers]

Everything felt familiar. The faces of characters we last saw three years ago; the same they are not. Our faithful Player #456, aka Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) is back - albeit more gaunt and way more weary. He’s been looking for - and trying to stop - the game from happening.