The Seoul Western District Court dismissed on Dec. 29 the application for an injunction filed by a youth group against Korean TV channel JTBC to stop the airing of the drama ‘Snowdrop” starring Jung Hae-in and BLACKPINK’s Jisoo.
Last Dec. 22, the group called The Declaration of Global Citizen in Korea filed an injunction with the court accusing the drama of beautifying state violence.
In seeking the injunction to stop “Snowdrop” from airing on JTBC, the group said “in many parts of the world, where democratic protests are struggling, Korea is regarded as a country with a history of overthrowing military dictatorships with the power of citizens in the past.
“In such a country, we cannot help but be astonished to learn that the drama ‘Snowdrop,’ which seems to glorify state violence today, is being aired and even exported overseas through OTT service.” (OTT platform Disney Plus is airing the drama).
The group said in the drama, the actor who plays the role of an official of the ANSP, which tortured and killed many pro-democracy figures in Korea without any reason, is portrayed as an honest and passionate public servant and the ANSP is beautified.
“In particular, the fact that it is transmitted through a channel with great ripple effect, such as JTBC, instills a distorted view of history in viewers who watch content without any background knowledge about democratization in Korea and it can instill false values that blindly justify the act of glorifying state violence in order to side with the star who appears,” the group said.
In dismissing the group’s application for injunction to stop “Snowdrop,” the court said, according to Korean media, "Even if the contents of ‘Snowdrop’ are based on a distorted view of history as the claims of the The Declaration of Global Citizen in Korea, it is difficult to believe that people will blindly accept it and they cannot arbitrarily apply (for a ban)."
The court was quoted as saying that it was difficult to consider the content of “Snowdrop” as a violation of human rights as it does not directly target The Declaration of Global Citizen in Korea.
Korean netizens accused “Snowdrop” of distorting history about the pro-democracy movement in South Korea and beautifying the former Agency for National Security Planning (ANSP), which was linked to torture and killings in the past.
A national petition to stop the airing of “Snowdrop” has been signed by 355,558 Koreans since Dec. 19.
“Snowdrop” premiered on JTBC and Disney Plus on Dec. 18 and it tells the story about political conspiracy and espionage against the backdrop of the 1987 Korean presidential election and a romance that blooms amid it.
It stars Jung Hae-in, who plays the role of Im Soo-ho, a 27-year-old graduate student who is a North Korean spy sent to South Korea to do a mission. Jisoo is 20-year-old Eun Young-ro, a college student at Hosoo Women’s University.
The two meet during a group blind date after which Eun Young-ro falls in love with him. Six months later, during a mission, a bloodied Im Soo-ho is chased by agents from the ANSP. He climbs into the dormitory room of Eun Young-ro and loses consciousness. She finds him in her room and hides him from authorities.
JTBC aired episodes 3 to 5 from Dec. 24 to 26 to temper opposition from the Korean public.
“The controversy related to ‘Snowdrop’ is still ongoing. We believe that the misunderstandings related to the story are brewing because the viewers cannot simultaneously grasp all the narrative from the beginning. So we decided to pre-air more episodes to quell their worries,” said JTBC, according to Korea JoongAng Daily.
It said that in the drama, it is revealed that the ANSP is the one that brings North Korean spies to South Korea and the leaders of South and North Korea begin to conspire for power and money.
“JTBC respects various views and opinions about content. In order to hear the opinions of viewers, we are listening to various voices on the viewers’ bulletin board and real-time chat window on the portal site. This special program is also a choice to resolve the concerns of viewers. We will continue to listen to your opinions and do our best to create good content,” said JTBC.