Petition demanding “Snowdrop” to suspend broadcast has surpassed 200.000 signs, ad sponsorship drops one by one

The demand for “Snowdrop” to stop its broadcast due to the history distortion controversy continues.

“Snowdrop”, which first aired on December 18, is a pre-production drama starring actor Jung Hae-in and BLACKPINK member Jisoo. Director Cho Hyun-tak and writer Yoo Hyun-mi of the JTBC drama “SKY Castle” worked together once again for the production of this drama.

The production team said the story is about a desperate love story of spy Lim Soo-ho (Jeong Hae-in) and college student Eun Young-ro (Ji-soo). However, as the synopsis was leaked earlier this year, the viewer began to suspect that it would be a drama that distorted history due to various settings.

The production team has made its official position twice in this controversy. It is not a drama that deals with the democratization movement, and the motif of the drama’s background and major events is about the 1987 presidential election political situation, not the democratic movement, which means the drama does not distort history. Except for the fact that 1987 is the drama’s background, everything is a creation from human imagination, so there can’t be any intention of distorting the actual history.

Despite that answer, “Snowdrop” still cannot escape from the controversy over historical distortion. There were stories that heavily remind people of the democratization movement in the first episode’s background setting, and there were the so-called security agents that resemble The Ministry of Health and Welfare of that time which is widely known as an organization that used to torture innocent activist students.

In response, the production team said, “They are not representatives of any government or organization”. They also explained that the accusation that they glorified the espionage activities or home donations has nothing to do with “Snowdrop.” However, historical distortion posts regarding the drama are already rampant online. Thanks to the global popularity of Jisoo, the false accusation related to espionage and the National Security Agency are spreading as if it were true among overseas fans and netizens.

The production team and some netizens have expressed their resentment, saying that many viewers who are concerned about history distortion cannot distinguish between real and fictional backgrounds. However, even subtle secondary historical distortion can happen due to this fictional and informal justification of virtuality. If they wanted to use 1987 as the time background which was the time when the heartbreaking history of the democratization movement and the vicious National Security Organization coexisted, they  should have approached it more delicately so that there was no fear of history distortion.

In the case of KBS 2TV drama “Youth of May,” which ended in June this year, like “Snowdrop,” it was set in the 1980s to deal with the sad love stories of Hwang Hee-tae (Lee Do-hyun) and Kim Myung-hee (Go Min-si), but there were no suspicions or controversy over history distortion. The production team of “Snowdrop” needs to think more deeply about why so many viewers are only raising questions about their drama despite the fact that both are works of the same era. The production team has set all posts on the “Snowdrop” viewer’s bulletin board to private so that only the production team and the author can read them. It is questionable why they blocked all communication channels with their viewers. 

Meanwhile, the online petition page quickly spread like wildfire, and as the 2nd episode is on air, the petition has reached 200.000 signs as of 11:10 PM. If a petition surpasses 200.000 signs, the related government agencies is required to answer and solve the petition’s demand.

Dopyeongyo, which sponsored the ceramics, said on its official blog, “We are a small operating company without any political color,” adding, “We have not received any prior notice of the drama script or plot, and we have not been able to review the sponsorship.” Regarding this matter, it has asked the drama to delete the company logo and to return all products.

Fashion brand Garnisong, Hans Electronics and rice cake brand Ssarijae Village have also demanded a withdrawal immediately, but it would be hard for them as the show is pre-recorded.