What is the Red Light, Green Light song in Korean?

Q: What does the doll say in Red Light, Green Light?

Just as in the show, the doll can turn its head and say: Red light, green light.” The dolls eyes are said to light up red and can detect movement from players who dont keep still. However, unlike in the brutal episode of the series, the doll does not have the ability to injure players as in the show.

Those of you who follow The Bias List regularly know that I have certain pet peeves when it comes to music. I think we all do, and they’re not automatically a deal-breaker. But, layer enough of them on top of each other and you’ve got an impenetrable wall that makes it hard to objectively write about a song. T1419’s Red Light, Green Light (무궁화 꽃이 피었습니다) is one such example.

Índice Show

What is the Squid Game Girl saying?
What does the doll say in Red Light, Green Light?
How do Koreans play Red Light, Green Light?

Though the translated title of “Red Light, Green Light” refers to the North American iteration of this popular children’s game, the same concept appears in a countless number of cultures. I’m partial to a version invented (?) by my former summer camp called “Where’s My Water Bottle,” where the participants not only strike the game’s familiar stop-and-go poses but also work as a team to steal a water bottle from their counselor. Maybe I’m just conniving like that. At any rate, the Korean version of this activity is called “The Rose of Sharon has Bloomed,” and you see it pop up often during variety shows. T1419 have gone and designed a whole K-pop song around it, blustering and grunting around the titular refrain. It’s pretty obnoxious, but I guess those are my pesky pet peeves talking.

The thing is, we’ve heard this children’s song referenced in many K-pop tracks already. It’s almost as ubiquitous as “머리 어께 무릎 발,” which elicits similar eye rolls. It feels odd to be exhausted by a cliché that’s not even part of my own culture, but here we are! And the thing is, the song itself has redeeming factors. The actual chorus is fun in a needlessly aggressive way, and I appreciate the instrumental’s single-minded desire for clanging and crashing. T1419 bring plenty of power and intensity to the track. But, other acts have covered this ground in more interesting ways and I just can’t get past the reductive nature of the concept.

Hooks	8
Production	7
Longevity	7
Bias	6
RATING	7

So I watched the show in Korean, with English subs, and I was confused about how they were translating the Red Light Green Light scene. In the subtitles the doll says Green Light and then Red Light, but in the audio the doll seems to be singing a continuous song. Sometimes she sings fast and sometimes slow, but you can always predict when the song is about to end because it's the same song each time.

I just rewatched that scene dubbed in English, and the game suddenly seems a lot harder because the doll just calls out Green Light and then Red Light, with silence in between. You get zero warning for when she's going to say Red Light.

I have two questions:

Can anyone who understands Korean tell me what the doll is actually singing/saying.
DAE agree that the game seems way too easy if the doll is singing a continuous song?

The Netflix Squid Game series “red light, green light” game, which in Korean is has nothing to do with lights, but everything to do with a flower. The song’s lyrics are, 무궁화 꽃이 피었읍니다, and is based on the (Rose of Sharon) hibiscus and also South Korea’s national flower.

So what they’re saying in that game is “the hibiscus flower, has bloomed.”

The 무궁화 is very important to Korean culture. It’s even in the national anthem. The flower used to be extremely common and could be found everywhere in Korea.

However, during the Japanese invasion of Korea, the Japanese colonists tried to change that.

The Japanese colonists saw how Koreans felt and identified strongly with the flower, and of course, they weren’t going to let that fly.

The Japanese colonists started branding the flowers as common and dirty, and in a lot of places, they started fading out of existence.

Fortunately, Koreans held tight to their pride and identity around this flower, and it has flourished again in Korea.

So that childhood rhyme in Squid Game has a lot to do with Korean pride.

What is the Squid Game Girl saying?

The doll in Squid game says 무궁화 꽃이 피었습니다 at different speeds to indicate when she is about to turn around and activate the 'red light'.

What does the doll say in Red Light, Green Light?

Just as in the show, the doll can turn its head and say: “Red light, green light.” The doll's eyes are said to light up red and can detect movement from players who don't keep still. However, unlike in the brutal episode of the series, the doll does not have the ability to injure players as in the show.

How do Koreans play Red Light, Green Light?

At a glance, Red Light, Green Light seems easy to grasp but the version played in Squid Game has unique Korean characteristics. Typically, Red Light, Green Light is a game where one player has their back to the wall while the rest try and cross the finish line.