Another Squid Game record in India: 3.4 million watch “K-Insider Challenge, Enjoy Squid Game at Home”

New Delhi: The Squid Game drama that created a global Hallyu content craze since its release in the second half of 2021, and has been in the top 10 on Netflix in India until recently, has set up another record of its first online event “K-Insider Challenge, Enjoy Squid Game at Home” with participant’s videos reaching 3.4 million accumulative viewership.

The Korean Cultural Centre India (KCCI) recently launched “Enjoying squid game at home” as this year’s very first topic because the event was intended to encourage indoor physical activity through “squid game” content during the third wave of Corona which was followed by conditional restrictions in the local areas.

Three winners were selected through two-time evaluation; netizen evaluation based on the number of video views, comments, and likes, and qualitative evaluation of video content such as creativity and editing ability. Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and Samsung Galaxy Earbuds Pro will be given to the winners.

Kanyaa Saxena, who took first place, said, “Squid Game is so appreciative that I’ve watched it so many times and I even evoked the dialogues by heart. The overall mechanism of the challenge was very interesting that we started visualizing the very same instant. We sniggered a lot while filming. Launching a challenge on Squid Game when it was so widespread was a clever move. From thinking to uploading it to KCCI was an enjoyable experience. I really thank KCCI to indulge us in such a fun challenge. I was able to spend a fun and fruitful time with my family”.

KCCI has been conducting this online participation event called “K-Insider Challenge” under the theme of various Hallyu (Korean Wave) contents from 2021, during the pandemic. Starting with the “Kimchi Introduction” challenge which 132 people participated in last year’s January and February and exceeded 1 million cumulative views of all posts, “K Beauty” event from March to April, 419 participants introduced Korean beauty products, Korean style makeup, and skincare tips which exceeded 2 million cumulative views on online communication network of Korean Cultural Centre India, and “K Cinema, Drama” challenge in May and June, 172 participants described Korean movies and dramas through their videos, and the cumulative number of views recorded 1 million views, finally, in July and August, 825 people participated under the theme of “Introducing K-pop to a friend”, the total number of cumulative views of the video was 3.6 million.

Hallyu (Korean Wave) is currently taking shape in all areas of society in India. The source of Hallyu which has formed through K-pop and K-drama is gradually expanding into secondary and tertiary contents such as the Korean language, Korean food, fashion, and beauty.

According to Duolingo, a world-class language education content provider, Korean is the 5th most popular foreign language in India in 2021, rising up two places from the previous year, and is maintaining an upward trend. In the fashion sector, sales of green and red sportswear featured in “Squid Game” nearly tripled in the month of October 2021 after “Squid Game” was released on Netflix last year according to Flipkart, a substantial e-commerce company. Major fashion brands such as ‘Puma India’, ‘Hermel India’, and ‘Superkicks India’ said that the demand and sales for squid game-related sportswear and sneakers have dramatically increased. ‘Nykaa’, the largest company in the beauty sector, said that the demand and sales of K-beauty products from Korea are continuously increasing rapidly, and about 800 Korean beauty products are being traded on their platform as of the second half of 2021.

According to Euromonitor, a market research firm, the Indian beauty products market is expected to grow at a rate of 9-10% annually from 2021 to 2025, reaching $2.2 billion in 2021. In addition, in the snack field, a Korean snack company, Orion entered India, resulting in a 400% increase in sales in 2021 compared to 2020. The success story of ‘Kross Comics’, a startup based in Mumbai founded by a Korean, shows the potential of the webtoon market.

Hwang Il-yong, director of Korean Cultural Centre India said, “The source of Hallyu, which was first formed through K-pop and K-drama, is now at an important point in the formation of a full-fledged river by expanding to language, fashion, beauty, food, and lifestyle. Indian economic media show their interest in the soft power of Hallyu and the creation of added value in the actual local market and are interested in the development of Hallyu contents and the Indian contents market. Korean Cultural Centre India is trying to introduce various Hallyu contents while understanding the atmosphere of the local media and the market.”