The first trailer for the long-awaited second season of Squid Game has finally been released, three years after the debut run broke global records.

The South Korean dystopian drama is finally returning to Netflix later this year, and a 17-second teaser warned that the sinister ringmaster behind the murderous game will once again be pulling the strings.

In the clip, Lee Jung-jae is back as Seong gi-hun – the lone survivor of the first games.

Showing off a new pink hairstyle, he can be seen strolling through an airport or a train station, before answering a call from a mystery figure.

Seong gi-hun is told: 'You'll regret your decision.'

But the hero refuses to back down, and he replies: 'I will find you. No matter what it takes.'

The release date for the second season of Squid Game is yet to be announced, though Netflix have confirmed it will hit the streaming service in 2024.

Squid Game initially began streaming on Netflix September 17, 2021, and quickly gained steam as a pop culture phenomenon, en route to becoming the company's most-watched series in its history.

Upon its' debut in autumn 2021, Squid Game garnered more than 1.65 billion viewing hours in a 28-day span, with more than 111 million accounts tuned in to the South Korean drama. 

It marked the first time the streamer had more than 100 million members tuned in at the time it had premiered, according to Deadline.

Reprising their roles from the first season, Lee Byung-hun will play Front Man, while Wi Ha-jun will portray Jun-ho and Gong Yoo will play the Salesman.

New addition to the cast for the show's second season will include Yim Si-wan, Kang Ha-Neul, Park Sung-hoon and Yang Dong-geun, Park Gyu-young, Jo Yu-ri, Kang Ae-sim, Lee David, Lee Jin-uk, Choi Seung-hyun, Roh Jae-won and Won Ji-an.

Hwang Dong-hyuk will serve as a director and executive producer on the show's second season, which is slated to begin production later this year.

The first season ended with Gi-hun refusing to spend his prize money before discovering that the mastermind all along was his old friend Oh Il-nam - played by Oh Yeong-su.

After Il-nam dies Gi-hun realises that the game is still going on, when he sees The Salesman recruiting another new player.

At that moment, instead of going on a plane with his daughter, he leaves vowing to stop the game forever.

Season two will no doubt have parallels with the first, but a bigger budget and new games have been promised, so it should be anything but boring.