Seriously, Snowdrop is the worst drama that shouldn't have been aired. It will still be the worst in 100 years. Just looking at the post-2021, go craven if 100 years of past, it will still be the worst. A completely disbrown, only in 2020. They are so embarrassed. The Korean drama. The Korean drama. So what could possibly cause such a reaction from Koreans? Snowdrop is a new K-drama that just premiered back in December. Snowdrop first gained popularity for being the first drama of Blackpink Superstar Kim Jisu. Actually, the first drama of any Blackpink member. Immediately, it was hit with heavy criticism. So much so that Snowdrop was recently voted as the worst K-drama. 2021. And there were a lot of dramas that were released in 2021. So that's pretty harsh criticism. But the criticism doesn't come from the story to plot, the acting, or the production. It actually comes from a controversy about the historical setting of the show. The drama takes place in 1987, right in the middle of the student protest against the South Korean government. Jisu plays a South Korean college student named Young-Roll. And Dong-Hae-in plays Su-Hul. In North Korean spy. Su-Hul is being chased down by a bunch of government agents. And as he runs, he hides in Jisu's college dorm. But Jisu and Rumi-T's think that Su-Hul is just a democratic protestor running from the police and decides to keep him hidden. This is where the controversy comes in. Professor Van Bion-Yul of Han-Kook University States, it may give the viewers impression that spies were hidden among students and were indistinguishable, adding weight to the regime's claims that cracking down on student activists was an effort to catch spies. Even if it's a dramatically interesting concept, it's very irresponsible. Basically, the show is saying, hey, you know, the actually had the right idea about arresting the students and assaulting them. Well, because they're actually were North Korean spies hiding among them. Now, is this a far-fetched concept? Is this an overreaction of a response to a show like Snowdrop? But what do I know? I'm not a historian or a professor of Korean studies. But he is. This is Dr. Mark Peterson, Professor of Asian Studies, PhD from Harvard University. So, correct me if I wrong, you were actually in Korea during this time in 1987. Yes, I was in Korea from July 1987 to June 90. Oh, okay. So, you pretty much have first-hand experience of what was going on in Korea at the time. Yeah, yeah. The big demonstrations were in 80 when Chundu-Han took over and the Kwangju people stood up to him and he killed a bunch of people in Kwangju. And that had ripples throughout the society from 80 on until Chundu died this last year. Why were these protests happening? Like, what was going on in Korea at the time that caused the people to revolt? Student demonstrations started against Park Chung-hee who took over the government as a military man in 1961 and it rippled on through till Park was assassinated in 1979. In 1987, Mark's climax of all these student demonstrations that really began in 1961 and reached more of a crescendo was up and down, but it finally reached a violent crescendo in in 1987. And Note-U went to the demonstrators and said, okay, what do you want? And they said, we want direct election of the president. We want restoration of free press and a bunch of other things. And Note-U, very courageously, I think, said, okay, okay, okay, you got all that. We can do all that. And that marks the beginning of a real democratization. In that episode of Snowdrop, there was a scene that caused a ton of controversy because there was a North Korean spy that hit in a dorm room. Why do you think that scene caused so much controversy? Yeah, the issue was the military government in order to discredit the student demonstrators. I always like to say there were North Korean spies involved and to imply that the student demonstrations demonstrators were doing the will of North Korea. And if you can get the right wing of Korea, the population of Korea say, oh yeah, those students are bad because, yeah, look, they're demonstrating with the North Koreans. They're working with the North Koreans. The North Koreans spies are motivating them or paying them and instigating them to demonstrate. It's a way of discrediting the student movement. And see, on the other hand, the left wing or more progressive wing of Korea always would look at the students as the pure element of Korean society. They're the pure innocent students who are reacting as the conscience of the country. And so to say that this conscience of the country, pure innocent student thing is really manipulated by North Korea. They're in, they're in lies the room. People, people have defended the series saying that 1221 ended. It only had five episodes out and it wasn't nearly enough to judge the whole entire series. And then stating the reason why people were hating on the drama is only because they were Black Pink Antis and are looking for an excuse to hate on Jisoo. Additionally, in the beginning of every episode, it's clearly stated that this is a fictional show. It's not supposed to be a historical retelling of events that happened. So if a show is fiction, then by definition, it doesn't need to be historically accurate. It doesn't need to be an accurate retelling. At least that's what defenders of the show are saying. So is the show really as bad as critics say it is? The show has an average episode rating of 9.3 and a series rating of 8.9 on IMDB, which is actually really, really, really good. The story is well told, acting is fine. The writing is comprehensible and by all means a production looks like a very well-funded and produced production. So is it the worst K-drama of 2021? No, absolutely not. Not by a long shot. Is it the most controversial? Probably. You know, it's definitely up there. But what do you guys think? Is Snowdrop a bad show? Is the way that it's told in a historical setting detrimental to Korean society? I don't know. But I'll see you guys next time and remember to subscribe.