India, June 29 -- While Netflix's Squid Game may be a fictional survival drama packed with deadly children's games and societal critique, its emotional core is grounded in reality. With the show's third and final season dropping on June 27, viewers might be surprised to learn that protagonist Seong Gi-hun's story was inspired by a real and violent chapter in South Korean labor history: the 2009 Ssangyong Motor Strike.

Creator of the show, Hwang Dong-hyuk, in an interview with The New York Times, explained why the show resonated globally. Dong-hyuk told the publication that they had touched something in the zeitgeist. He said they touched on the sense of crisis weighing heavily on people, which made them relate to Gi-hun.

According to a ...