Fans of K-dramas in the region are in for a treat as <i>Snowdrop</i> is now on Disney+ with all the episodes available for streaming. The 16-part series stars <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/on-stage/2022/10/16/blackpink-begin-born-pink-world-tour-with-a-slick-set-full-of-hits/" target="_blank">Black</a><a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/on-stage/2022/10/16/blackpink-begin-born-pink-world-tour-with-a-slick-set-full-of-hits/" target="_blank">pink’s Jisoo</a> (in her acting debut) and Jung Hae-In as a young couple in a forbidden love, amid political turmoil in <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/south-korea/" target="_blank">South Korea</a> in 1987. Lim Soo-ho (Jung) is a graduate student who is found injured and covered in blood by Eun Yeong-ro (Jisoo) in the dormitory of her women’s university in <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/seoul/" target="_blank">Seoul</a>. Against her better judgment and at risk of getting expelled, she hides him from his attackers and helps tend to his wounds. However, unbeknown to her, he has a secret that could put her and her friends and family’s safety at risk. “Snowdrop is a heart-warming fictional melodrama about a young couple in love, and as the story unfolds, find themselves enduring an unbearable pain that one rarely encounters in a lifetime. I hope global audiences find this heartfelt series also gripping and suspenseful as the two come to face their fate,” said the show's director Jo Hyun-tak. The show went on air on December 18, 2021 on Korean television network JTBC and was simultaneously shown on <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/television/2022/06/07/disney-offers-peek-at-mena-platform-before-official-launch/" target="_blank">Disney+</a>. By January 4, it had become the most-watched series on the platform in South Korea, <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/singapore/" target="_blank">Singapore</a>, <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/hong-kong/" target="_blank">Hong Kong</a> and <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/taiwan/" target="_blank">Taiwan</a>, according to data from streaming analytics website <i>FlixPatrol</i>. However, despite its popularity, it also sparked controversy before and after its broadcast. This is tied to a storyline that involves Jung's character being a North Korean spy and having ties or involvement in South Korea's pro-democracy movement where, in real life, those who protested the Korean regime were falsely accused of being North Korean spies. After an online petition was launched to have the series pulled from air, JTBC issued a statement saying that the drama is a fictional story. "The drama is not distorting the pro-democracy movement nor is it glorifying the Agency for National Security Planning," said JTBC. "It is a black comedy drama satirising the political situation between the two Koreas under the authoritarian government in the 1980s. Also, it is a romance drama showing young people who sacrifice their love."
