Global streaming giant Netflix has edited a phone number that appears in its global hit series Squid Game after South Koreans who use it or similar combinations were deluged with calls - some asking to join the show's life-or-death games.

The South Korean-made series has topped Netflix popularity charts in more than 80 countries since its launch last month and is on track to become its most-watched series ever.

The nine-episode drama - incorporating uncompromising violence and addressing widening economic inequality - sees hundreds of cash-strapped people compete in a series of children's games to win the final reward of 45.6 billion won (R572 million), with the losers killed.