The upcoming Korean drama “Snowdrop,” starring K-pop idol Jisoo from Blackpink and popular actor Jung Hae-in is facing accusations of distorting historical facts. People are asking broadcasting company JTBC to cancel its production of the show, which is scheduled to air later this year.
Part of the script shown here leaked online and went viral.
“The show is set in 1987, when tear gas was firing as if it was fireworks. A young man injured and covered in blood breaks into a women’s dormitory. A female student tries to cure him, thinking that he is a student activist who is fighting for his generation. However, he was a spy from North Korea and a warrior who survived hell-like training. The man, who is destined to accomplish the mission ordered by his ‘motherland,’ falls in love with the girl who saved him. The girl also falls in love with him at first sight without knowing he is an armed spy. This is a story about the couple’s tragic destiny.”
The drama, which was scheduled to air later this year, is in danger of being canceled due to the controversy over the leaked script. There are three main characters who are in a love triangle, according to the script. The other male character is an agent from the National Intelligence Service (NIS) who never surrenders under any circumstances. This is all of the story that was made available to the public at this point, but it still brought harsh criticism, mostly from those who are supporters of the current Moon Jae-in administration. They argue that the drama insults student activist groups who led the pro-democracy movement, while glamorizing the NIS, which was controlled by a “dictatorship.” On March 26, a petition was filed to the Blue House asking for the production of “Snowdrop” to be banned. Within two weeks, around 210,000 people signed it. Some conservatives also feel uncomfortable with the potential glamorization of a North Korean spy.
One of the reasons some people find this drama troublesome is how it may portray pro-democracy activists as a whole. A large number of people indeed stood against the military regimes in the 1980s, and many of them were tortured after being falsely accused of being North Korean spies. Those who criticize the drama argue that it will distort the facts about pro-democracy movement if the main male character is a spy who hid in the country among student activists.
JTBC explained that the show is not intended to insult the pro-democracy movement or to glamorize either the NIS or North Korean agents. “It is just a satire and a black comedy,” the JTBC explained. “It also is a love story between young men and women during the chaotic time. Arguments such as ‘the story is trying to say the North Korean agents led the pro-democracy movement’ or a ‘certain historical figure who led the student activists’ group is reflected in the story’ are completely different from the actual content.”
The name of the character Jisoo plays, “Young-cho,” also received criticism. Some people argued that the name reminds people of the female activist Chun Young-cho, who led the anti-dictatorship and pro-democracy movement at Korea University during the 1970s. She was arrested by the NIS and was tortured, and her life was the subject of the book “Sister Young-cho.” Some criticized the drama for trying to make a female character named “Young-cho” fall in love with a spy. Later, the JTBC released a statement that read “the character’s name has nothing to do with Ms. Chun Young-cho, but we will change it, as there are concerns that it reminds people of her.”
There have been many dramas and movies that were set in the 1980s and talked about the pro-democracy movement. Most of the time, they portrayed pro-democracy activists as good and the military regime and the NIS as evil. As is the case for most historical events, South Korea’s situation in the 1980s was not black and white.
What is interesting about the controversy over “Snowdrop” is that it is supporters of Moon Jae-in who are taking a major role in trying to take the program off the air. Pro-Moon online communities are uploading posts criticizing the drama and sharing the link to the Blue House petition page. Some members are raising funds to protest against it on the streets.
It appears that this is because the key members of the ruling party are often dubbed “Generation 586.” This refers to people who are currently in their 50s, went to university in the 1980s, and were born in the 1960s. They portrayed themselves as student activists or fighters against the dictatorship. However, many from the student activist groups’ leadership at that time were in fact followers of North Korea’s Juche (self-reliance) ideology. Many of them served time in prison for violating the National Security Act. Some were wrongfully accused of violating the law, but at the same time, it also is true that there were many who actually violated the law and showed their loyalty to North Korea, or at least sympathized with Pyongyang’s ideology.
Many of those former student activists have expressed their pro-North Korean views even after they gained political power. Lim Jong-seok, the former chief of staff to President Moon Jae-in, is one such figure among many. Lim was sentenced to five years in prison and served three and a half years in prison for facilitating Lim Su-kyung’s (Lim is best known for attending the 13th World Festival of Youth and Students, held in North Korea and praising North Korean Leader, Kim Il-sung in 1989, without first obtaining travel permission from the South Korean government.) unauthorized visit to North Korea in 1989. After he entered politics, he worked hard to dismantle the National Security Act and opposed the North Korean Human Rights Act. (https://onekoreanetwork.com/2020/11/25/the-danger-of-attempts-to-delete-section-7-of-the-national-security-act-because-of-discomfort/) One of the many comments on news articles about the Snowdrop program read, “is this story about Lim Jong-seok?”
Meanwhile, this issue came after the cancellation of another drama called “Joseon Exorcist” after just two episodes. Viewers were upset over the historical distortions in the show, which included its depiction of the king of the Joseon dynasty providing Chinese foods such as mooncakes to a guest. At that time, the critics were mostly males in their 20s and 30s who are relatively more opposed China than other demographic groups. Both controversies show that South Korean political issues are spilling over into the cultural sphere.
