All 9 Squid Game Characters Who Return In Season 2

WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for Squid Game season 2.

Several main and supporting characters who originally appeared in Squid Game season 1 return to reprise their roles in the highly anticipated season 2. After becoming Netflix's most-watched series of all time with its September 2021 premiere, Squid Game season 2 premiered on the giant streaming platform on December 26, 2024. Season 1 star Lee Jung-jae returns as Squid Game winner Seong Gi-hun who is determined to make the creators of the high-stakes survival game pay. The cast of Squid Game season 2 also features the return of Wi Ha-Joon as Hwang Jun-Ho and Lee Byung-hun's Front Man Hwang In-ho.

Series creator Hwang Dong-hyuk returns to write and director Squid Game season 2 and has already confirmed that Squid Game season 3, which will be the final season of the celebrated thriller, is set to be released in 2025. Following season 1's 9-episode stretch, Squid Game season 2 has a total of seven episodes. The end of Squid Game season 1 revealed that Seong Gi-hun won the Squid Game and left the game with 45.6 billion won. Despite his newfound wealth, Gi-hun opts to reenter the Squid Game in order to take it down from the inside.

9 Kang Cheol

Played by Park Si-wan

Kang Cheol, Sae-byook's little brother, makes a brief appearance in Squid Game season 2, episode 2. Gi-hun watches him from the other side of the street as he arrives home, which confirms that San-woo's mother has been looking after him following the events of Squid Game season 1. Cheol calls San-woo's mother "grandma" in Squid Game season 2, which indicates that the two characters have been able to fill a void in the other's life.

All 7 episodes of Squid Game season 2 are now streaming on Netflix.

Because Gi-hun asked San-woo's mom to look after Cheol following Sae-byook's death in Squid Game season 1, Gi-hun fulfilled his promise to her that he would look out for him. San-woo ironically kills Sae-byook in Squid Game season 1, which neither Cheol or San-woo's mother is aware of. Cheol's parents remain in North Korea and had nobody to look after him following Sae-byook's death. He has a very minor role in Squid Game season 2 but is included to confirm that Gi-hun kept his promise to Sae-byook.

8 Sang-woo's Mother

Played by Park Hye-jin

Sang-woo's mother, played by Park Hye-jin, returns briefly in Squid Game season 2. Gi-hun used to ask her about Song-woo's whereabouts at his fish market back in season 1. After Song-woo's death, he was able to convince her to take in Cheol and be his guardian, since he would otherwise be an orphan. Although Sang-woo's mother is featured in a number of scenes in Squid Game season 1, she is only depicted in the scene that reintroduces Cheol's character in season 2, episode 2.

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Because Sang-woo dies at the end of Squid Game season 1, he is unable to look after his mother throughout her elderly years. This dynamic set up by Gi-hun ensures that not only will Cheol be taken care of through his adolescence but Song-woo's mother will also have someone to look after her as she enters her elderly years. Gi-hun observes this dynamic from afar and can tell that the two have developed a sincere love for one another, which is why he checks in on them but doesn't interfere in Squid Game season 2.

7 Kim Sang-hyuk

Played by Lee Dong-yong

Chief Kim, who was introduced as the police chief in Squid Game season 1, returns at the beginning of Squid Game season 2. He sees Jun-ho giving out traffic tickets and tries to convince him over lunch to come back to "real" police work as a detective. Chief Kim has a minor but memorable role in both seasons of Squid Game but is not involved in the Squid Game at all, even though Gi-hun goes to him for help to no avail in season 1.

Not much is known about Chief Kim in either season of Squid Game besides the fact that he's a serious police officer who doesn't believe in the Squid Game. He tries to help Jun-ho get reinstated as a detective early on in Squid Game season 2 but that plan ends up backfiring. Overall, Chief Kim isn't a very important character in the series but he is one of the few characters who appear in both seasons 1 and 2.

6 North Korean Defector Shelter Employee

Played by Choi Jae-sup

Officially credited as "North Korean Defector Shelter Employee", this character played by Choi Jae-sup also appears in both Squid Game season 1 and season 2. In both seasons, the character is a marriage broker who works at an agency called "Northern Women, Southern Men." As a defector of North Korea himself, he aims to help female North Korean defectors find South Korean men.

The character also does other general tasks for North Korean defectors and helps get defector's relatives out of the country. Viewers may remember him from season 1 when Sae-byook throws coffee in his face in season 1, episode 2. Later in Squid Game season 2, episode 2, Gi-hun visits him to check in on Sae-byook's mom, who is still in North Korea and has been diagnosed with tuberculosis. Gi-hun is determined to get Sae-byook's mom to South Korea as art of his promise that he would look after her family.

5 Jung-bae (Player 390)

Played by Lee Seo-hwan

Although Jung-bae was unnamed in season 1, he was seen in the first two episodes of season 1 as Gi-hun's gambling buddy and close friend. In Squid Game season 2, the character is given a name and also becomes a contestant, Player 390, in the latest edition of the Squid Game. Since he is in the game with Gi-hun, he becomes one of the biggest characters in the second season of Squid Game.

Jung-bae remains Gi-hun's most loyal friend in Squid Game season 2. He is also revealed to have been a former Marine and is not just a degenerate gambler as season 1 may have suggested. Pretty much wherever Gi-hun goes in Squid Game season 2, Jung-bae is right by his side, which proves that he truest him more than anyone else in the game.

4 The Salesman

Played by Gong Yoo

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The Salesman (played by Gong Yoo) is the recruiter in the gray suit who initially invited Gi-hun and hundreds of others to the Squid Game in season 1. He is given the same task in season 2 and challenges random people who appear to be in financially disadvantageous situations to a game of ddakji, which involves a red and a blue envelope. The Salesman is not given a formal name but is Gi-hun's best chance at discovering where the Squid Game is held.

The Salesman's recruiting process is given more of an in-depth look in Squid Game season 2 after Woo-seok and Mr. Kim finally track him down playing ddakji in a subway station. They follow him through a park in broad daylight as he makes a point to dozens of people about choosing between a guarantee (food) and a dream (lottery ticket). Gi-hun is ultimately able to face him and defeat him in a game of Russian Roulette, which opens the door to speak with the Front Man.

3 Hwang Jun-ho

Played by Wi Ha-joon

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Jun-ho is one of the main characters from Squid Game season 1 who returns in season 2. After the literal cliffhanger ending of season 1, it was uncertain whether Jun-ho was still alive after his brother, the Front Man In-ho, shot him in the shoulder. Jun-ho then fell into the sea where he was rescued by a sailor named Captain Park. Although Jun-ho has learned the truth about his brother's disappearance and his role in the Squid Game, Jun-ho is determined to help Gi-hun take it down.

Wi Ha-joon's character begins Squid Game season 2 as a traffic cop before he encounters Gi-hun and eventually joins in on his efforts. Jin-ho had successfully gone undercover as a pink guard in Squid Game season 1 but remains on the boat with Captain Park, Woo-seok, and a group of mercenaries that Gi-hun hired to storm the island where the Squid Game was held. Jun-ho trust Captain Park to help him locate the correct island and save Gi-hun but they run into complications along the way.

2 The Front Man / Hwang In-ho

Played by Lee Byung-hun

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The Front Man returns after revealing his true identity to his younger brother, Jun-ho, in the Squid Game season 1 finale. This time around, In-ho becomes fascinated by Gi-hun's determination to take down the Squid Game and wants to get to know him on a personal level, which is why he masks himself as Player 001 in the Squid Game. Unbeknownst to anyone but the audience and the Squid Game staff, Lee Byung-hun's character pretends to be one of the contestants desperate for money.

Although In-ho seems to form a real bond with Gi-hun, he still won't allow him to destroy the Squid Game and takes matters into his own hands at the last second. Gi-hun has yet to fully become aware of Player 001's true identity and betrayal even at the end of season 2, which is sure to set up an interesting dynamic going into Squid Game season 3. It's unclear exactly what In-ho wants from Gi-hun but there's a good chance that he will try to convince him to join the "dark side."

1 Seong Gi-Hun

Played by Lee Jung-jae

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The main character and breakout star of Squid Game season 1 returns for season 2. Even though Gi-hun has already escaped the Squid Game and won nearly $46 billion won, he still chooses to go back inside in a bold attempt to take down the Squid Game from the inside out. Thinking he will be tracked and will lead Jun-ho to the private island where the Squid Game is held, Gi-hun assumes a hero role in season 2 but to his surprise, not all the contestants wish to follow him.

Gi-hun is fueled by a moral belief that people will do the right thing, which was the point of his hospital scene with Oh-il Nam at the end of Squid Game season 1. Gi-hun refuses to believe that the majority of Squid Game participants will want to continue with the game if he can warn them after Red Light Green Light and convince them to vote to end them. Gi-hun's belief is proven wrong several times throughout Squid Game season 2 as he finds himself stuck in his Player 456 role once again.