Actor Park Hae-soo has attributed the rising popularity of his new Netflix film ‘Yaksha: Ruthless Operations’ to the recent global acceptance of Korean pop culture, which has been led by ‘Squid Game’ and BTS.
‘Yaksha’ is an action-packed spy thriller centered on Kang-in (Sul Kyung-ku), a notorious leader of a secret operation team in the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang known as the Black Ops team, and Ji-hoon (Park), an ambitious prosecutor assigned to inspect the Shenyang team.
The Netflix film, which was released on April 8, debuted at No. 3 on the streamer’s official weekly viewership chart for non-English films for the week of April 4-10, according to Yonhap.
“It is a unique spy movie made in Korea and set in the Chinese city of Shenyang,” Park said in an online media interview.
“Many Korean pieces have well met demand of global audiences and ‘Yaksha’ benefited from it, I think.”
Ji-hoon is played by Park, who is looking for a way to finish his inspection as soon as possible. He is, however, compelled to become deeply involved in a clandestine intelligence operation involving a high-ranking North Korean official.
He described himself as a “high-principled character” who “does not tolerate any illegal acts or injustice.”
“He, on the other hand, falls helplessly into the middle of the battle without even realising it. I attempted to communicate the unintended consequences.”
After ‘Persona,’ ‘Time to Hunt,’ and ‘Squid Game,’ he said that ‘Yaksha,’ his fourth Netflix project, has helped him broaden his acting horizons once more by requiring him to act in foreign languages.
The film features some foreign actors, including Hiroyuki Ikeuchi from Japan, and Ji-hoon, who is fluent in both Chinese and Japanese, plays a role in dealing with foreign spies.
The 40-year-old actor, who rose to international fame for his role in the global TV hit ‘Squid Game,’ said the last few months have been “extraordinary” for him because he has spent the majority of his acting career in South Korea.
He attended many of them as a cast member and met many big-name Hollywood stars because ‘Squid Game’ was nominated for and won prestigious US awards, including the Screen Actors Guild Awards.
“I had great experiences thanks to ‘Squid Game,’ attending awards shows with so many stars I’ve seen on screens,” he said. “It’s an honour to be a member of this project.”
He said he felt the rising presence of Korean culture while mingling in the global entertainment industry, which is open to global audiences through borderless online platforms like Netflix.
“They’ve finally had their day. They gain access to a global audience, and viewers will be able to see Korean programming.”