How do the organizers keep the game secret?

Question

In Squid Game, we see that a standard method of recruitment for the titular lethal competition is playing an extended game with candidates in highly surveilled subway stations, which seems to involve a priori suspicious activities such as publicly and repeatedly slapping a well-dressed businessperson in the face, after which they actually hand out their business cards. Presumably, many more people go through these stages than actually join the game in the end.

We see that the organization is perfectly willing to let players go if a majority vote no, and we see this happen. We also see that they make little effort to prevent players from telling the authorities, which in fact does directly lead to a police officer investigating. Especially since they drop players off together, they certainly could not rely on everyone making wild and uncorroborated allegations as Seong Gi-hun did (as opposed to two people saying that a well-dressed man promised them money then kidnapped them, say). Certainly, they have little means of preventing people from telling their friends or family.

We also see that by the end of each year's competition, they kill a number of people that seems to be equal to a non-trivial chunk of South Korea's actual adult missing persons cases.

Further, the guards are sufficiently poorly vetted that they can tell international organ traffickers about the location of the island and hand off organs to them without the organization noticing. Finally, we see that they let one person go every year with sufficient money and reasons to potentially cause some trouble for them.

With all these potential leaks, how do the organization and its games stay secret?

Answer 1

It's unreasonable. It pure fantasy and zero chance this would last more than a few weeks if that.

1. First there are cameras all over the place that would track all of the vans after they gathered people.
2. In that region it would also be very very easy to track the ship.
3. The contestants would for sure blab. But they would for SURE try to get back at the workers. So even this isn't reality but I would tell you what this would be if it were me...

• If I am in good graces with cops, we set up a sting, follow the vans, arrest everyone. After that boss/island shut down.
• If you want to get into a sub-movie fantasy and I am a "bad guy cops don't trust"... Well I know the guys are picking me up. I hold them hostage at gunpoint with other friends and "contestants". We then kill all the guys on the boat. Take the boat to the island and kill the leader and take the money.

4. There is nothing keeping the workers happy. Unless a new sub-plot where the main boss has something over on every worker (threatens to kill their family), then why would they stay there? They can get killed at any time, they sit in an empty room all night, cameras on them, would get busted for murder... no sense at all.

The premise is fantasy because with that large of scale it would be leaked and found in a week or two. Sure you could kidnap random people (5-10 a month maybe) if you are super clever. But you can't re-release them and just nothing.

The biggest flaw in the believability of the plot is that they portray the contestants as pretty smart, down on their luck (in debt) and kind of criminal. So you are telling me 250 criminals who want to win money for competing here and can openly say where they live and who they are (can conspire on outside) would rather play random games for cash rather than take over the workers, break into island and take cash?

And then the meta of this is why wouldn't the workers just do this themselves? Hundred guys with guns can't take over the leader? What? They see all of that money sitting there and they wouldn't shoot one guy and grab the loot. Come on.

Answer 2

Because authorities are extremely unlikely to link any missing people and investigate their cases as one.

1. Majority of the participants are in a situation where their disappearance would either be attributed to other causes or simply ignored. Cho Sang-woo and Ali are wanted by law, Kang Sae-byeok and Ji-yeong have no relatives or friends to report them missing, Heo Sung-tae is actually a criminal. It is also implied that many of the participants are knee deep in debt. Some owe mafia money, and their absence would probably be explained as gang violence. Some would be thought to have simply run off.
2. Even if several people cooperated and reported the same story - it would still probably be dismissed. Masked people kidnapping you with sleeping gas and forcing you to play "Red light - green light" with giant killer robot, and you have no factual evidence other than a card with some poor woman's phone number? Get sober, boys. Only by pure luck Hwang Jun-ho visits same precinct as Seong Gi-hun and realises there's some actual truth in the story. Had he not found the card in his brothers apartment or came by a day later - he would have no clue.
3. Related to numbers 1 and 2 - law enforcement isn't exactly depicted as too eager to protect and serve. In episode 1 Seong Gi-hun is threatened to have his kidney removed, yet he doesn't even try contacting the police. Makes you think, doesn't it?
4. It's implied that contestants are kept under surveillance. Those who are too friendly with law enforcement would be neither invited in the first place nor re-invited later - or would be killed. It also means that eliminated contestants' apartment might be cleaned of evidence.
5. We only see delivery vans, but it doesn't mean nobody keeps an eye on them. There would be plenty of opportunities to check for any tail.
6. Winners hardly have any incentive to contact the police. After all, they volunteered to participate in death matches and killed other people. Not even to mention that their hard-earned winnings would be confiscated should any investigation start.
7. As for the recruiter - he just plays games with people and they let him slap them (with consent, as those surveillance cameras would confirm). What would you charge him with? Gambling? Giving out business cards with some strangers numbers? Being a jerk?
8. Games happen once a year, which means there's enough time for any small scale investigation to die off. Police might actively search for white vans or suspicious businesspeople for a month or two, but in twelve month? Everybody would forget.

Answer 3

Authorities are either in it, or see the benefits of it.

In the first episode, 456 sign a debt on his organs.
Something that is illegal in most countries. Yet it seems quite official here.
I don't know if it is really legal in Korea right now, or if it used to show the leniency of the society. But thats a good baseline for what is tolerated and what is not.

People behind the game are absurdely rich. There is of course the 50ish Millions euros cash prize every year. But also paying the workers some big money so they accept everything and don't complain (the vip is casually threating the "waiter" with death, before trying to rape him). There is also the logisitics to take in consideration.

Why stopping here and not pay some people in high places, to ensure they look the other way.
Did the police officer really consider 456 a lunatic, or was he told how to react to those situations ?

On the other hand, people playing the game tends to be quite on low side of the society. From highly indebted people to pure criminals, from con-woman to disgraced doctor.

When you look at it from the big picture. The death/disparition of those people can be a good thing for the country/society in all.

And even the winner have big chances to change his way of life after winning the money.

So even if the people at the top don't win anything directly, they could still agree with it, while keeping deniability.

The biggest clue that the Authorities are in it ?
In the epilogue, we learn that the governement removed the limitation on debt, allowing people to get more in debt.
Allowing more desperate enough people to become candidate.