Jung Ho-yeon is one of Korea's top female Instagrammers

Jung Ho-yeon [NETFLIX]

Model-actor Jung Ho-yeon became the most popular Korean female actor on Instagram, apparently fueled by the global popularity of Netflix Korea’s original series “Squid Game.”

As of Tuesday, the number of Jung’s followers on the social media platform was 13.6 million, surpassing previous top actors Lee Sung-kyoung and Song Hye-gyo, each with 12.9 million and 12 million followers, respectively.

Before the release of “Squid Game,” Jung’s Instagram followers numbered around 400,000; but this number increased rapidly, and is still on the rise since the show's release on Sept. 17.

Jung portrayed a North Korean defector, Sae-byeok, who participated in the survival game to acquire money so that rest of her family could defect to the South.

Jung is expected to appear as a guest alongside stars Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo and Wi Ha-jun for NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” on Wednesday.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]