By Yoon Hee Young

"Squid Game" is the first Korean series to top the chart of Netflix U.S.

FlixPatrol, a U.S.-based provider of data on video on demand and streaming, on Sept. 22 said the original Netflix Korea series was No. 1 on Netflix U.S., beating out the British series "Sex Education," which had held the top spot until the day before.

"Squid Game" was also ranked second in Netflix's world rankings.

The series was tops in 14 countries including Korea, the U.S., Vietnam, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Singapore and second in 39 countries such as the U.K., France and Germany.

This was the best performance by an original Netflix series made in Korea on the U.S. chart since last year's "Sweet Home" ranked third.

Starring Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo and Jung Ho-yeon, "Squid Game" is about people with nothing to lose playing a life-or-death survival game. They are locked up at a gigantic venue while risking life and limb for prize money of KRW 45.6 billion.

The series got a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes, a U.S.-based film review site, and a rating of 8.3 out of ten on the Internet Movie Database aka IMDB.

The U.S. business magazine Forbes on Sept. 21 hailed "Squid Game" as a "must-watch," saying, "It's a powerful production full of stellar performances, memorable characters and creative twists and turns."

hyyoon@korea.kr