Updated Sep 13, 2022 - Economy

"Squid Game" makes history at Emmy Awards

Rebecca Falconer

Hwang Dong-hyuk accepts the Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series award for "Squid Game - Red Light , Green Light" at the Emmy Awards in Los Angeles Monday. — Hwang Dong-hyuk accepting the Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series award for "Squid Game - Red Light , Green Light." Photo: Chris Haston/NBC via Getty Images

Netflix's "Squid Game" made history as it triumphed with a series of firsts at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards on Monday evening.

The big picture: The smash-hit show, about a group of people facing financial trouble who play each other in life-or-death games to win money, is the first South Korean series and first television series not in English to win at the awards, the Los Angeles Times notes.

Hwang Dong-hyuk, creator of Netflix's most-watched series of all time, won the drama directing Emmy — making him both the first Asian and Korean person to win the award, per the L.A. Times.
Series star Lee Jung-jae became the first Asian actor ever to win in the category of Best Actor in a Drama.

Flashback: "Squid Game" was the first non-English show nominated for an Emmy for best drama series, though that award went to HBO's "Succession" on Monday evening.

The show received 14 Emmy nominations in total.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to say that Lee Jung-jae is the first Asian actor to win best actor in a drama at the Emmys.

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"Squid Game" makes history at Emmy Awards

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