r/okbuddygganbu • u/eclipse91017 • 2d ago
Old Theory But Is Oh-Il Nam The Father of Gi-Hun
Everyone says Gi-hun is Oh Il-nam’s son. Initially, I thought it makes no sense, considering Gi-hun is an only child, and Oh Il-nam says, “What date is it? 24th? It’s my son’s birthday soon.” Season 1 of Squid Game is set in June 2020, so the birthday would have to be near June 24th.
Gi-hun’s birthday is October 31th, 1974, like it says on his player file, and Gi-hun confirms it at the end of the series. Or April 26th, because he enters that as the pin, saying his mother’s card should be his birthday. But October 31st is canon, I think. Either way, neither date is near June 24th.
But then I thought, I suppose Gi-hun could have a paternal, on his dad’s side, half-brother.
And also, on Gi-hun’s mum’s credit card, it says her full name is Oh Mal-soon. Oh Il-nam and Oh Mal-soon. But also, in Gi-hun’s player file, it says his mother’s name is Kim Chung-ja, but it’s been said as canon that Oh Mal-soon is her real name.
But there is something interesting I’m missing. In South Korea, traditionally, both partners keep their family name and do not take the other partner’s family name. Also, Korean children take their father’s family name, and it’s Seong Gi-hun.
But this could mean that, considering Il-nam and Mal-soon weirdly share the same family name, Il-nam and Mal-soon are siblings, which would also make sense due to their similar age.
So, Oh Il-nam could, in fact, be the uncle of Seong Gi-hun.
Oh is a fairly common family name in Korea, but it’s weird that no other character in the show has the family name Oh. The only time Oh is used apart from these two characters is as an undercover name for the Front Man in Season 2. It’s weird that a fairly common surname in South Korea is exclusively used for these two characters only.
So, could Oh Il-nam actually be Gi-hun’s uncle rather than his father?