Actor Lee Jung-jae, who played the moral centre in Squid Game, has become the first Asian and South Korean to win the Emmy for best drama series actor, one of four awards picked by the hit Netflix series.

Lee on Monday bested a crowded field that featured Jason Bateman for Ozark, Brian Cox as the patriarch and Jeremy Strong as his son in Succession, Bob Odenkirk for Better Call Saul, and Adam Scott for Severance.

Squid Game is a dark drama that tells the story of people who compete in a deadly competition to erase their financial debt. The series had topped Netflix viewing charts in multiple countries, kickstarted sales of tracksuits and Vans sneakers, and kindled global interest in learning Korean.

“Thank you for making realistic problems we all face come to life so creatively on the screen”, Lee, aged 49, said to Hwang Dong-hyuk, creator of Squid Game who also won the Emmy for best drama series direction.

Speaking in Korean at the awards ceremony in Los Angeles, Lee thanked the audience in his native country and said he expected the awards to open doors for other Asian actors. Backstage, Hwang said it was a “major moment” for him and Lee.