Cho Hyun-ju

Cho Hyun-ju (Korean: 조현주), also known as Player 120, is a character in both the second and third seasons of South Korean Netflix drama Squid Game. In the series, she is a highly skilled and highly trained ex-Special Forces soldier until she was discharged after coming out as a trans woman, further losing family support and employment. She joins Squid Game to win money in order to support her gender-affirming surgery and possibly move to Thailand to live as a kathoey, and befriends multiple characters, including a woman named Kim Young-mi. She is a leader of her own group with Young-mi and the archenemy of Seon-nyeo. She was created by series creator Hwang Dong-hyuk and portrayed by Park Sung-hoon, a cisgender man. Hwang expressed difficulty in finding a trans female actor in South Korea, citing how South Koreans treat trans people as a reason for casting being difficult. Park worked with trans people in order to portray the character accurately, hoping to avoid caricaturing her.

When it was announced that Hyun-ju would be played by a cisgender man, the show, Hwang, and Park received criticism, with people on social media and critics arguing that casting a cisgender man in this role affirmed an anti-trans notion that trans women are men. It was also argued that it would be more ideal to cast a trans or cisgender woman instead. On release, Hyun-ju was received well for her portrayal and writing, with multiple critics considering the character an authentic representation of trans women. There was also a hope that Hyun-ju would lead to further acceptance and better representation in the future.