Meet HoYeon Jung: The model who is player 067 in Netflix series Squid Game

Squid Game is the new Netflix series everyone is talking about right now. The series has rave reviews, scores 100 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes, and is backed to be the biggest show Netflix has ever created. It follows a bunch of cash-strapped players, who are desperate for the prize money the dangerous and deathly tournament offers – so much so they will put their lives at risk for it. One of those players in Squid Game is 067, a complex character who is played by HoYeon Jung.

In real life, Squid Game is the first major acting role for HoYeon, and she’s actually a very successful model with millions of Instagram followers. Here’s everything you need to know about her.

via Instagram @hoooooyeony

Player 067 in Squid Game is played by 27-year-old HoYeon Jung

The actress who plays 067 in Squid Game, or Kang Sae-byeok which is the character’s actual name, is HoYeon Jung. She is a 27-year-old, born in 1994 in Seoul, South Korea. She has two siblings, and was revealed to be dating actor Lee Dong Hwi in 2016. The pair confirmed their relationship, saying they had been dating since 2015.

via Instagram @hoooooyeony

HoYeon Jung is one of the top models in Korea

HoYeon Jung is one of the most successful models in Korea. She started modelling aged 16, and was dubbed “Korea’s next top model” by Vogue, and did actually appear in the show’s fourth season – where she placed second. She modelled in Seoul Fashion Week and was later ranked as one of the “Top 50” fashion models by models.com.

During her career, HoYeon Jung has featured in magazines such as Vogue Girl Korea, Nylon Korea and ELLE Wedding. In the industry, she is reportedly known for her flame-red hair and “fiery” personality.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CQYAsynhejj/

Player 067 in Squid Game is her first major acting role

Squid Game is the first time HoYeon Jung has had a major TV role. However, she does have other Netflix connections. She’s friends with Jennie from the South Korean girlband BLACKPINK, who had a Netflix documentary made about them in 2020.

HoYeon Jung has said in an interview she feels she is fairly similar to Kang Sae-byeok, or player 067, her character in Squid Game. “More than anything, I think I was able to accept [the character] Sae-byeok without any big difficulties because I am similar to her,” she said. “In 2016, I left Korea to further my modelling career overseas, and I spent a lot of time alone. At the time, the emotion that I felt the most was ‘loneliness’. That feeling of loneliness while trying to persevere and live isn’t all that different.”

The model was asked to send in an application for the part in Squid Game whilst she was at New York Fashion Week. “When my CEO told me I’d been casted, the first thing I said was, ‘Why?’ I was so happy when I heard the news, but it was like a greater fear had taken over me,” she said in an interview. “[I was like] ‘Thank you very much, but I can do this?'”

She has 17million followers on Instagram

HoYeon Jung clearly has a lot of loyal fans, with 17million Instagram followers. She shares loads of candid pictures of herself, shots from her modelling work and has more recently shared loads of behind the scenes pictures from Squid Game. Her handle is @hoooooyeony.

via Instagram @hoooooyeony

Squid Game has really been a huge boost for her on Instagram, before the show aired HoYeon Jung had 400k followers. She now has 17million and the number is rapidly increasing

Squid Game is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news, drops and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook. 

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• Ranked: The Squid Game cast by how many millions of Instagram followers they’ve gained

• Netflix editing scenes after man says his real number was used on the cards in Squid Game

• This Squid Game theory about 067 will restore all of your faith in humanity