BLACKPINK Jisoo's upcoming drama alongside Jung Hae In, Snowdrop, falls into controversy prior to release

Snowdrop is facing controversy for alleged distortion of history.

By Ishani Sarkar

Updated on Mar 27, 2021 | 12:14 PM IST | 2.9M

BLACKPINK Jisoo's upcoming drama alongside Jung Hae In, Snowdrop, falls into controversy prior to release

National sentiment and patriotism is at an all-time high in South Korea at the moment, especially after the controversy surrounding actor Jang Dong Yoon's drama 'Joseon Exorcist' and its distortion of historical narratives. In the light of this accusation, the drama has been canceled after only airing 2 episodes. Not only is this disastrous for the cast and crew who worked effortlessly on the drama but also for the public image of everyone involved. The next drama to fall into scandal was Shin Hye Sun's Mr. Queen. CJ ENM has accordingly started removing the drama from all VOD services. Vincenzo was also being criticized vehemently for incorporating Chinese product placements into the drama.

However, this chain is still far from over. Even before its release, BLACKPINK's Jisoo and Jung Hae In's drama 'Snowdrop', which fans have been looking forward to for more than a year now, is suddenly under scrutiny from K-Netizens, in particular, owing to an incomplete version of the plotline that had been leaked online. Snowdrop is set in Seoul of '87 which was a crucial year in the history of the Korean democratic movement and University students played a key role in the same ever since the Gwangju Uprising in 1980. However, K-Netz believe that the drama is distorting the pro-democracy movement in favor of the authoritarian regime.

In this respect, JTBC released a statement, addressing the concerns of the public. According to a translation by Soompi, the statement reads as follows:

“Snowdrop” is not a drama that disparages the pro-democracy movement or glamorizes being a spy or working for the NSP. “Snowdrop” is a black comedy that satirizes the presidential elections taking place in the 1980s under a military regime during the North-South tension on the Korean peninsula. It is also a melodrama about the young men and women who were victims of that situation. We received all sorts of criticism after certain sentences were taken out of context from parts of an incomplete synopsis that were leaked online, but all of this was based on mere speculation. In particular, accusations like “the drama will show a North Korean spy leading the pro-democracy movement” and “the drama made a real student activist into a character” and “the drama glamorizes the Agency of National Security Planning” are not only different from the drama’s actual content but also far from the production staff’s intention. We firmly reiterate that the accusations going around about “Snowdrop” are unrelated to the drama’s actual content or the production’s staff’s intentions. We ask that you refrain from reckless speculation about a drama that has not even been revealed."