Snowdrop

* Promotional Poster
* Teaser Poster 1
* Teaser Poster 2
* Disney+ Poster
* Disney+ Original Poster

Producers:

Park Joon-seo
Park Sang-soo

***Snowdrop*** (Korean: 설강화; Hanja: 雪降花; RR: *Seolganghwa*) is a South Korean television series starring Jung Hae-in, Jisoo, Yoo In-na, Jang Seung-jo, Yoon Se-ah, Kim Hye-yoon, and Jung Yoo-jin. It aired on JTBC from December 18, 2021, to January 30, 2022, every Saturday and Sunday at 22:30 (KST) for 16 episodes.

## Plot

The film Snowdrop takes place in 1987, a pivotal year in South Korean history, during which the June 1987 Democracy Movement, a mass protest movement that forced the South Korean dictatorship to hold fair elections, led to the democratic elections of December 1987, which led to the end of the authoritarian Fifth Republic and the establishment of the democratic Sixth Republic.  Graduate student Lim Soo-Ho (Jung Hae-In) is covered in blood and he jumps into the female dormitory at Hosu Women’s University. Eun Yeong-Ro (Jisoo) finds him and helps to hide him. They develop a romantic relationship. Lim Soo-Ho is graduate student at a prestigious university. He is Korean-German. He has charisma and he is also mysterious. Eun Yeong-Ro is in the first grade of Hosu Women’s University. She is a major in English literature. She first met Im Soo-Ho on a blind date and fell in love with him at first sight. Gye Bun-Ok (Kim Hye-Yoon) gave up entering university due to her poor family background. She now works as a telephone operator at a women’s dormitory. Pretending to be a university student, she attends a blind date with Eun Young-Ro. Gye Bun-Ok later gets involved in a case. Lee Gang-Mu (Jang Seung-Jo) is the leader of team 1 at NSP (National Security Planning). He is a man of principle, who doesn't compromise in any situation.

## Cast and Characters

### Main

* Jung Hae-in as Lim Soo-ho (27 years old), formerly named Lee Tae-san, alias Lim Soo-hyeok. He is a North Korean agent with a mission assigned in South Korea. He lives as a graduate student preparing for a master's thesis in the Department of Economics from the University of Berlin. He fell in love with Yeong-ro at first sight.

* Jisoo as Eun Yeong-ro (20 years old), a freshman at Hosu Women's University in the English Literature Department and daughter of Eun Chang-su who is the director of the ANSP. She fell in love with Soo-ho at first sight.

* Yoo In-na as Kang Cheong-ya (34 years old), a charismatic and skilled surgeon at a university hospital. She is later revealed to be a North Korean spy. Her birth name is Kim Eun-hye.
* Jang Seung-jo as Lee Gang-mu (36 years old), the leader of Team One in the Anti-Communist Investigation Bureau, Agency for National Security Planning (ANSP), who seeks to arrest Soo-ho over the death of his colleague. He gets hostage by Soo-ho afterward. Despite their hate for one another, Gang-mu cares for the hostages, especially to Yeong-ro. Though what he didn't know is that he ended up getting betrayed by his own team. So, he and Han-na teamed up with Soo-ho.
* Yoon Se-ah as Pi Seung-hee (43 years old), the housemistress of Hosu Women's University dormitory.
* Kim Hye-yoon as Gye Bun-ok (24 years old), a phone operator at Hosu Women's University dormitory, who could not go to college due to financial issues. She was friends with Yeong-ro but became enemies after claiming her to be the cause of the hostage situation.
* Jung Yoo-jin as Jang Han-na (32 years old), an impulsive, but passionate ANSP agent, who is Gang-mu's junior and fiancée who was left behind six years ago. She allied with Soo-ho after being betrayed by the entire ANSP and her own father.

### Supporting

#### People around Soo-ho

* Kim Min-kyu as Joo Gyeok-chan, a North Korean agent, who is prone to violence. He is later killed by Man-dong.
* Jang In-sub as Lee Eung-cheol, a North Korean agent, who is trusting and friendly towards Soo-ho. He is killed by Man-dong.
* Heo Nam-joon as Oh Gwang-tae, a university student who likes Seol-hui.
* Jeon Moo-song as Lim Ji-rok, the Head of United Front Dept., DPRK and Soo-ho's adoptive father, who adopted both Soo-ho and Soo-hui from a coal mine.
* Jeon Ae-ri as Choi Soo-ryeon, the Deputy Director of Ministry of State Security, DPRK. She is later revealed to be Soo-ho's biological mother.

#### People around Yeong-ro

* Huh Joon-ho as Eun Chang-su, the Director of the ANSP and Yeong-ro's father. He truly cares for Yeong-ro despite their strained relationship.
* Kim Jung-nan as Hong Ae-ra, a former film actress, Eun Chang-su's wife and Yeong-ro's stepmother, who has a poor relationship with Yeong-ro.

## Episodes

### Episode 1

On a group blind date at a coffee shop, Eun Yeong-ro and Lim Soo-ho fall in love at first sight. To Yeong-ro and everyone else's surprise, Soo-ho is a North Korean spy assigned to bring Han I-seop to the North. In six months, their plan is foiled by an ANSP team headed by Lee Gang-mu, as Soo-ho's plan is about to succeed. Someone shot Soo-ho while he was trying to escape to the dormitory of Hosu Women's University.

### Episode 2

In Room 207 of the Hosu Women's University dormitory, Soo-ho collapses after being wounded by the ANSP's gunfire. Yeong-ro and her roommates assume Soo-ho is a student protestor and attempt to hide him from ANSP agents and police officers. They also ask Kim Man-dong, the facility manager, for assistance, and he assists them in hiding Soo-ho in the attic.

### Episode 3

In the attic, Yeong-ro tends to hurt Soo-ho while attempting to find a covert way to get him out of the dorm. As the University's yearly open house approaches, Yeong-ro uses the occasion to escort Soo-ho out of the dorm by pretending to be her male partner. Soo-ho thanks Yeong-ro for helping him by giving him his sister's necklace before departing.

### Episode 4

When Soo-ho leaves the dormitory, he continues his mission. Meanwhile, Yeong-ro's housemother, Pi Seung-hee, and the dorm's phone operator, Gye Bun-ok, discover the suspected spy. As a result, Yeong-ro is expelled from the dorm. The next day, Lee Gang-mu, an ANSP agent, searches for Soo-ho and secures solid evidence. Soo-ho mistakenly enters the dorm while running through a secret tunnel in an abandoned hut. Soo-ho threatens Yeong-ro and the other female students while being held at gunpoint by the ANSP and forced to admit that he is a spy.

### Episode 5

Soo-ho, who has kidnapped the faculty, staff, and students of Hosu Women's University hostage, talks with the leader of ANSP to free himself and his teammates Gyeok-chan and Eung-Cheol from the dormitories. The North Koreans are holding Gang-mu hostage in the dorm, where he is brutally beaten and restrained. Yeong-ro is traumatized by the sudden turn of events and feels betrayed by Soo-ho's unfriendliness and cruelty.

### Episode 6

Soo-ho continues the hostage crisis while turning a blind eye to Yeong-ro who feels betrayed. Eung-cheol, who was injured in the earlier gunfight with the ANSP, is treated by Kang Cheong-ya, the mistress of Nam Tae-il. While Yeong-ro attempts to convince Soo-ho to release the hostages, she reveals that her father, Eun Chang-su, is the current director of the ANSP.

### Episode 7

Soo-ho has no choice but to use Yeong-ro, who is the daughter of ANSP's head, to survive. Despite everything, he attempts to make amends to Yeong-ro despite his guilt. It's revealed Cheong-ya that she is a North Korean spy and has been sent to ensure Soo-ho's team's safe return before the planned deadline.

### Episode 8

While the hostage situation is still going on, Yeong-ro's brother, Yeong-u, is hurt in a North Korean attack at sea and later dies in a hospital. Yeong-ro becomes upset and faints after hearing the news  about her brother's passing, which wrongly accuses Soo-ho of being the mastermind (under political directives). Upon seeing Yeong- ro's  suffering Soo-ho is moved to tears and apologizes to her, even going so far as to return her brother's scarf to her in her room. When the administration tries to use the hostage scenario to maintain control by spreading fake material and false news.

### Episode 9

Despite Soo-ho's best efforts, Yeong-ro does not accept him and ultimately comes up with a plan of escape with Gang-mu, who had earlier learned of the government's plot. Soo-ho continued ho's concern toward Yeong-ro throughout the episode causes more tension in their romantic feelings for one another. But, just as the escape strategy was about to be successful, Cheong-ya makes a threat to explode the bomb. When she finally sets off the bomb, the windows of the hostel are destroyed.

### Episode 10

When the anonymous admits who they are, Jang Han-na follows Gang-secret mu's directive to gather classified information regarding the hostage situation. Soo-ho's relationship with Yeong-ro faces greater difficulties as he starts to question if he and the others can survive. As Soo-ho saves Yeong-ro from a shooting by Gyeok-chan and the ANSP, it becomes clear to all the spies and captives that he genuinely cares about and loves her. As a result, Yeong-ro started losing her hatred toward Soo-ho.

### Episode 11

Finally facing the cruel truth surrounding the hostage crisis, Soo-ho joins hands with Gang-mu and suppresses Cheong-ya. He embarks on a path to regain the trust of the students and staff, who are also informed of the truth behind the hostage situation. As their relationship gradually improves, Soo-ho and Yeong-ro share their first kiss over a heart-to-heart conversation and a cup of coffee.

### Episode 12

Soo-ho and Yeong-ro become more reliant on one another as the situation gets worse. When dealing with a spy who betrayed their plan to the ANSP, Soo-ho and Gang-mu attempt to reveal the plot behind the presidential election. After Gang-mu and Soo-ho see through Chang-su's plan to save  his daughter and leave the others behind, Yeong-ro feels even worse about her friends, who are still in the dark about who she really is. Soo-ho and Gang-mu set up a meeting time and location for Yeong-ro and her father in the hopes that it will convince him to change his mind. Yeong-ro confronts and resists her father. Yeong-ro rushes in front of Soo-ho at gunpoint from a surprising circumstance without thinking twice. After being dissatisfied with Chang- su's aversion to sacrificing his daughter, makes use of the situation to assassinate Chang-su.

### Episode 13

Yeong-ro, who no longer has faith in her father, is comforted by Soo-ho. Students are unsure of which side to trust in in the meantime. Yeong-ro is upset and concerned about her father's condition as the media misrepresents his condition as being critical, while the North Korean spies are blamed by the media for shooting Chang-su. Cheong-ya develops a plot to catch the money given from the South to the North in order to ensure the agents' life when an order is sent for them to blow themselves and the hostages up. Soo-ho and Gang-mu initially object, but eventually give and let her sneak out.

### Episode 14

After receiving the news about Yeong-father ro's being shot, Soo-ho is heartbroken to see her struggling with guilt. Due to their differing opinions on the realism of Cheong-ya's motivations  and Gang-mu's well-meaning intention to convince Soo-ho to defect to the South through arresting him. As Yeong-ro's romance with Soo-ho further develops, her friends discover she is the daughter of the ANSP director and sever ties with her, causing Yeong-ro to seek comfort and cry in Soo-ho's arms.

### Episode 15

Soo-ho is forced to accept the proposal of the ANSP head after giving up hope in Cheong-ya. Cheong-ya miraculously returns with the money and reveals she has arranged a ship for the agents to leave South Korea illegally. While Bun-ok continues to secretly reveal Gang-mu and Soo-ho's plans to Ahn Gyeong-hui from the ANSP, she discovers the truth about her sister, Yeon-ok. It was Gyeong-hui who framed Yeon-ok as a spy, which ultimately led to her suicide. As a result of being shocked, Bun-ok begins to reassess her loyalties. Afterward, Soo-ho gives Yeong-ro his sister's necklace a second time as they share their goodbyes.

### Episode 16

Soo-ho, who leaves Yeong-ro, stands at the crossroads of fate just before returning to his hometown. During the agents' escape, Man-dong reveals himself as a secret spy and kills both Eung-cheol and Gyeok-chan. He tries to shoot Soo-ho, who convinces him from doing so. Man-dong ends up getting shot by his colleague after using his last moment to shield Soo-ho. After parting ways with Cheong-ya, Soo-ho returns to the dorm to assists Gang-mu and Han-na. Allowing the hostages to safely escape, Soo-ho chooses to stay behind to fight the SWAT team. He ultimately sacrifices himself and dies protecting Yeong-ro from the gunfire. In the aftermath, the truth comes to light and Chang-su, Tae-il, and Gyeong-hui are sent to prison. Yeong-ro, who is still grieving over Soo-ho, listens to his recorded tape with his last words, including the confession of his love for her. The series ends with an imaginary scene where Soo-ho plays the guitar and sings a song for Yeong-ro in the coffee shop where they both first met.

## References

1. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowdrop\_(South\_Korean\_TV\_series)
2. ↑ https://asianwiki.com/Snowdrop\_(Korean\_Drama)
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 https://news.jtbc.co.kr/article/article.aspx?news\_id=NB12036035