‘Snowdrop’ to air next 3 episodes this week to clarify ‘misunderstanding’ on historical revisionism controversy
JTBC announced that the next three episodes of K-drama Snowdrop will be aired from Dec. 24 to 26 to ease “concerns” following backlash over alleged distortions of the 1987 June Democratic Struggle in South Korea.
Snowdrop starring Jung Haein and BLACKPINK’s Jisoo has been involved in a string of alleged history distortion controversies following its premiere. A petition calling for its cancellation posted on the Blue House’s website reached over 340,000 signatures, as of this writing.
JTBC has since responded to the controversy on Tuesday, Dec. 21, clarifying that the K-drama is a “creative work” showing the “personal stories of individuals who were used and victimized by those in power.”
In a follow-up statement to Korean news channel Sports Donga, JTBC said episodes three to five of Snowdrop will be aired from Dec. 24 to 26 to reveal more of male lead Im Suho’s (Jung Haein) background.
Based on Snowdrop’s synopsis, Suho is an elite university student who’s suspected to be a North Korean spy. “(Suho) is a North Korean spy dispatched to South Korea, coming to Korea and the unfair power situation, which will explain the probability of the initial setting,” JTBC said in a statement, which has also been translated by Soompi.
“In the drama, it will turn out that the Agency for National Security Planning is the organization that brings the spies to South Korea, and the leaders of North Korea and South Korea will collude for power and money. In addition, the episodes will contain stories of young people who get caught up in their secret operations,” JTBC said.
Amidst the controversy, JTBC said it “respects” opinions about its content. The network added that its portal site’s real-time chat window and official message board will be opened.
The series’ bulletin board and real-time chats on Korean portal site Naver were previously hidden, as per Star1.