'Squid Game' star Jung Ho-yeon has gained over 13 million Instagram followers in under 3 weeks

Publish date: 2024-07-23
2021-10-05T16:09:30Z

"Squid Game" star Jung Ho-yeon has gained over 13 million Instagram followers in less than 3 weeks. 

Ho-yeon, who plays the North Korean defector-turned-pickpocket Kang Sae-byeok in the Korean survival drama "Squid Game," had just over 400,000 followers on Instagram before the show premiered on Netflix on September 17, according to the data analytics website SocialBlade. Within a week, the 27-year-old skyrocketed to 3 million followers, SocialBlade data shows.

As of Tuesday morning, 18 days since the acclaimed show was released to the public, Jung has catapulted to 13.9 million followers. She appeared to be gaining hundreds of thousands of followers by the hour. 

On Monday, Ho-yeon passed Song Hye-kyo, who starred in "Encounter," to become the most-followed Korean actress on Instagram, as NME and IndiaToday reported.

The actor, who made her debut in "Squid Game" and is a South Korean fashion model, has shared behind-the-scenes pictures from the Netflix set. 

Youngkyu Park

Jung has gained over a million new followers on a majority of the days since September 17, according to SocialBlade, and will surpass the 34-year-old Lee Min-ho — who has 26 million followers and whom Vogue reported in June was the most popular Korean male actor on the platform — by the end of October if she continues at this rate.

"Squid Game" follows a group of people down on their luck and trapped in debt who participate in a series of deadly games in the hopes of attaining a big cash prize. On TikTok, the hashtag #SquidGame has notched up over 26 billion views, as fans post memes related to the show and tributes to cast members, including Ho-yeon. 

The show is on track to become Netflix's most-watched original of all time. 

"I used to be a person who focused on personal benefit, but after playing this character who puts her family before herself, and seeing her life hold a lot of meaning, I'd like to trust people more and help them out," Jung told The Times about her role in the show. "The most powerful lesson I learnt was to have faith in humanity."

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Disclosure: Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Business Insider's parent company, Axel Springer, is a Netflix board member.

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