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Still from the Korean series “Squid Game” (provided by Netflix)

As US film and television industry figures gear up to boycott this year’s Golden Globes award ceremony, the makers of the South Korean Netflix original series “Squid Game” have also decided not to attend the event.

“Squid Game” has been nominated in the categories of Best Drama Series, Best Television Actor — Drama Series (Lee Jung-jae), and Best Supporting Actor — Television (Oh Young-soo) at the 79th Golden Globes, which will take place before an empty house at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in California on Sunday.

But on Thursday, Lee’s agency, Artist Company, announced that the actor would not be attending the ceremony.

“[Lee] will be unable to attend in consideration of his other scheduling and the quarantine period that attending the ceremony could entail,” an Artist Company source said.

The same source added that the “current climate with the Golden Globes being shunned throughout Hollywood since last year for racial discrimination and gender issues was also taken into account.”

Both director Hwang Dong-hyuk and co-star Oh Young-soo will also reportedly be sitting the ceremony out. Oh will be taking the stage in the theatrical production “Freud’s Last Session” starting Friday.

As Lee’s agency explained, the decision not to attend was influenced by the current boycott of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which organizes the Golden Globes.

While the event has been considered one of the US’ two biggest film award ceremonies alongside the Academy Awards, it has recently faced criticisms over its predominantly white membership, gender discrimination, and corruption allegations surrounding the lack of transparency in its financial management practices.

The association claimed to have made some internal changes in the wake of last year’s ceremony, among them the introduction of 21 new members including a Black journalist. But the response in Hollywood has remained chilly.

Around 100 public relations agencies representing Hollywood stars declared a boycott of the event, with major production companies joining in. Netflix has not explicitly declared a boycott, but it did not submit any of its content for consideration, including “Squid Game.”

Nominations were not chosen on the basis of submissions.

The announcement of nominees last month took place on YouTube, in contrast with the practice of past years where it was a major network programming event. While NBC has broadcast the ceremony live in past years, it will not be doing so for the 2022 event.

By Suh Jung-min, staff reporter

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