Netflix will edit a scene in its show Squid Game, which features the phone number of a South Korean woman. The woman has been flooded with prank calls and text messages after her number was highlighted as a key plot point in the hit show, according to Reuters.
“Together with the production company, we are working to resolve this matter, including editing scenes with phone numbers where necessary,” a statement from Netflix and Siren Pictures said on Wednesday, also requesting fans to refrain from prank calls or messages.
The Korean-language survival-thriller show, that started streaming on September 17, follows contestants playing children’s games with fatal consequences.
The phone number in question, which appeared on a mysterious invitation card given to potential players of a series of deadly children’s games, was one of many that featured on the show.
The owner is identified as Kim Gil-young, a woman who runs a business in the southeastern county of Seongju. She showed some of the messages she had received, including requests for invitations to Squid Game, to local broadcaster SBS during an interview that was aired in September.
She added that because she was unable to change her contact number due to professional reasons, she was offered a compensation of up to 5 million won.
Presidential candidate Huh Kyung-young posted on Facebook that he would buy the phone number for 100 million won to help Gil-young.
According to Reuters, Netflix and Siren had said earlier they deliberately showed only the final eight digits of the mobile phone number, and were unaware that, when dialled, the prefix would automatically be added to complete the number.
Recommended
The cast of Squid Game comprises actors Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo, Oh Young-soo, Wi Ha-Jun, Jung Ho-yeon, Heo Sung-tae, Anupam Tripathi, and Kim Joo-ryoung, among others.
The series has become the first South Korean show to top the charts in Netflix US, according to the streaming giant’s co-CEO Ted Sarandos. He also recently hinted that it might become Netflix’s biggest show ever.
Meanwhile, South Korean internet service provider, SK Broadband, sued Netflix on October 1, over non-payment of network usage costs for the traffic surge that resulted from the new show.