'Snowdrop': Next 3 episodes to drop early as lawsuit, protests bolster cancel petition
The controversy surrounding the K-drama ‘Snowdrop’ starring Blackpink’s Jisoo and Jung Hae-in is getting serious. Apart from the 300k South Korean citizens who have signed a cancellation petition and sent it to the Blue House (South Korea’s presidential office), there is now a lawsuit against the production. Additionally, protest trucks are doing the rounds in the country asking for the broadcast of ‘Snowdrop’ to be stopped. In response, the creators have decided to pre-release the next three episodes to appease the general public.
After the first two episodes of ‘Snowdrop’ aired, South Koreans claimed that the drama was whitewashing the terror unleashed by the NSA during the 80s pro-democratic uprising. It also supposedly justifies the then rulers’ claims that North Korean spies were behind the uprising. Su-ho, Jung Hae-in’s character, reportedly plays a North Korean spy who is mistaken for an activist by Blackpink Jisoo’s character. This plotline was deemed offensive to the memory of the countless innocent activists who were tortured by the NSA that falsely claimed they were spies.
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Lawsuit filed against 'Snowdrop'
Dozens of sponsors dropped out and asked their products to be censored on the show. 40% of Disney+’s daily users boycotted the platform to protest the broadcast of 'Snowdrop'. After the initial uproar, the production, JTBC shared that they were not distorting history nor glorifying the military regime. In fact, they were reprimanding it and all misunderstandings would be cleared in the future episodes. But the scepticism has remained with tons of protest trucks being sent around the country asking for ‘Snowdrop’ to stop broadcasting episodes. On top of it, a group called 'The Declaration of Global Citizens in Korea' has filed a lawsuit to stop the drama.
JTBC’s second response was to release a step by step guide video to clarify as many of the misunderstandings as they could without spoiling the plot. But viewers refuse to believe that the show can fix the plot. Activists believe that the show disrespected martyrs to the pro-democracy cause and even if the 'misunderstandings' are all red herrings that will be explained in future episodes, the damage has been done by insensitively showing a North Korean spy being mistaken for an activist. They share that it is the same as glorifying Nazis even if the end goal is to show a plot twist that will reprimand the oppressors.
Episodes to air in advance
The creators of ‘Snowdrop’ have finally decided to air the next three episodes to resolve the situation once and for all. JTBC shared that the misunderstanding originated due to their back and forth storytelling. They hope that the airing of episodes 3, 4, and 5 from December 24 to 26 will clear the confusion surrounding Su-ho, a supposed North Korean spy mistaken as an activist by Young-ro, Blackpink Jisoo’s character. Furthermore, JTBC hopes to explain the aim behind the story arc of South Korean and North Korean ministers colluding.