K-Drama snowdrop makers clarify after accusation of distorting historical events

Korean drama Snowdrop, which debuted on air last weekend with two episodes, has found itself in the midst of controversy and speculation. The show, which is produced by one of the Korean pay-TV networks JTBC, is also available to stream on Disney + in select Asian countries. Snowdrop is a romantic political drama set in 1987. It was a time when South Korea faced a student uprising that demanded full democracy.

The drama stars Jung Hae-in and Jisoo of K-pop group BLACKPINK in the lead roles. According to Soompi, after both episodes of the drama aired last weekend, a national Blue House petition was created to demand that the drama be taken off the air. The petitioners, Soompi reported, were not satisfied with the way pro-democracy activists were portrayed in the drama. It should be noted that South Korea experienced a tense political period in the 1980s when several protesters were killed during protests for democratic rights. Uprisings like the one in Gwangju town have been particularly brutal, where many young students have been shot and murdered by the Korean military, and falsely accused of being North Korean spies.

According to Soompi, the petition mentioned: “There are specific militant victims who were tortured and killed during the democratization movement because they were [falsely] accused of being spies for no reason. Creating a drama with a plot like this despite this historical truth undermines the value of the democratization movement. “

What particularly irritated some viewers was the way the male character Su Ho is presented as a real spy as many activists have been killed for being falsely accused of espionage. In response to these critical comments, JTBC released a statement Tuesday. The network has asked its viewers to let future episodes explain the whole story. “Most of the misunderstandings about the ‘warping of history’ and ‘denigration of the democratization movement’ concerns criticized by many will be resolved by the unfolding of the drama’s plot. The drama includes the production team’s intention not to repeat an abnormal era in which individual freedom and happiness are oppressed by unjust power, ”the JTBC statement read.

JTBC also clarified that there is no spy leading the democratization movement in the drama. The network added that the characters of Hae-in and Jisoo were not portrayed as participating in or leading the democratization movement in the first two episodes, and they do not do so in any part of future episodes.

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