South Korean Workers Dressed In 'Squid Game' Costume Rally Vs. Poor Working Conditions

Thousands of union workers demonstrated in the streets of South Korea on Wednesday, dressed in costumes from the Netflix hit "Squid Game," seeking job security.

According to The Straits Times, over 80,000 participants of the South Korean Confederation of Trade Unions went on strike in 13 different cities in South Korea on Wednesday local time, demanding that the government improve working conditions for irregular workers and raise the minimum pay.

The Straits Times added that 27,000 people gathered in Seoul to protest. Hence, local officials deployed about 12,000 cops to set up "bus walls" and fences for crowd control, particularly in Gwanghwamun Plaza. The majority of the rallies took place.

Channel News Asia's Korea Bureau Chief Lim Yun Suk said in a tweet that some union workers are also fighting to make a livelihood just like the protagonists in "Squid Game."

Seventeen (via Yahoo! Finance) said the Netflix original series follows 456 adults on the verge of financial collapse who are asked to play children's games for a chance to win 45 billion won ($40 million). But losing the games has devastating implications.

According to a report published in the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health in July 2016, "workers in South Korea work 44.6 hours per week on average. That is higher than the amount of average weekly working hours (32.8) in OECD member states.

"Some scenes were very hard to watch," Lee Chang-keun, a former worker at South Korea's Ssangyong Motors, which laid off thousands of employees while filing for bankruptcy protection in 2009, told ABC News.

"In 'Squid Game,' you see characters scrambling to survive after being laid off at work, struggling to operate fried chicken diners or working as 'daeri' drivers," a rental service where drivers take drunk people home in their own cars, Lee added. "That reminded me of my co-workers who died."

Reuters said the march broke the country's strict COVID-19 social distancing regulations, which only allow gatherings of up to eight individuals if four persons are completely vaccinated, and up to ten people in other locations.

Under the city's strict social distancing measures, all rallies are prohibited in Seoul and the broader Seoul area.

To limit the spread of COVID-19, Korean President Moon Jae-in also advised union employees not to rally.