A U.S. official is fired when a red light on his pass appears, and it’s like a “Squid Game.”

An official at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, who lost his job overnight due to the Donald Trump administration’s restructuring, compared the dismissal to the Korean drama “Squid Game.”

According to WTOP, a local television station in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, a long line of employees lined up in front of the Health and Welfare Department building the morning before. The process of checking whether the entrance can be made with a pass badge continued for several hours.

Employees said that when they put the pass on it, if the green light on the electronic light at the entrance came on, it would remain, and if the red light came on, they were fired.

WTOP reported that the situation on April Fool’s Day was “not a joke,” adding, “If their badge doesn’t work, it means they’ve lost their jobs under the Trump administration’s push to reduce staffing.”

“It was like a ‘Squid Game’,” said an employee who had been in line for two hours and saw a red light when he put a pass on it.

“It was insulting,” the employee said, adding that someone had to accompany him when he entered the building to pack his luggage after the red light.

This seems to be a reflection of the situation in which the life and death of the participants are split in an instant in the “Squid Game.” The most well-known game in the “Squid Game,” “Rid and Green Light” is called “Red Light” in the U.S. as the red and green lights in the game are imprinted on viewers.

Another health ministry official said he was fired from his job at 5 a.m. the previous day because his pass was not working at the entrance to the building from the parking lot. He described the situation as “torturing federal government employees.”

Employees interviewed by WTOP worked for departments dealing with mental health and drug use issues in the community, who said their work has saved many lives.

“What we’re about to see is an increase in deaths from drug overdoses and the most marginalized communities will be most affected,” an employee said, adding, “It’s heartbreaking.”

According to the U.S. media, massive layoffs began in earnest the previous day at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, its affiliates, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (DC), in accordance with the Trump administration’s guidelines to streamline the federal government and reduce spending.

The total number of employees belonging to the Ministry of Health and Welfare is 82,000, and an additional 10,000 people will leave the department under the so-called voluntary retirement program led by the Ministry of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

The Trump administration says it will save $1.8 billion annually. There are also concerns that the U.S. ability to respond to health emergencies may weaken as key workers in the food and drug safety and public health sectors are cut.

JULIE KIM

US ASIA JOURNAL