Someone asked about the history of the Time Period in Question, so here is a short history lesson. Of course this is based on articles on the internet, so how accurate, I cannot tell, as I am not Korean.
Sometime after the assassination of Park Chung Hee, His successor was Choi Kyu Ah, who is ousted from his position by General Chun Doo Hwan, in what is known as the Coup d'état of December Twelfth. This all happened around 1979. After this South Korea entered into a militaristic regime, also called Martial Law.
After Chun Doo Hwan was in power, approximately 100,000 protestors, mostly students, started the pro democracy movement. This all happened in 1980 remember. Gwangju, became the epicentre of radicalism as this region has had a long legacy of radicalism and protest dating back to as far as the Japanese Invasion of Korea. So this was where the Gwanghu Massacre took place, in a span of a few weeks in May 1980, reputedly 170 students were killed and tortured. Modern estimates brings this number up closer to 2,000 - 3,000 people dying. The government at the time has defined these protestor as North Korean and Communist sympathizers.
The 1980 Korean constitution already limits the presidency for up to 7 years. So when Chun Doo Hwan came into power, there was no way he could rule forever. But there was a chance he can directly vote for his successor.
Ever since the Gwangju massacre, Chun Do Hwan became more gun shy about fully flexing his military might, and obviously his popularity took a huge nose dive. After the Gwangju Massacre from 1980 - 1987, college teachers, students and etc, continue to protest and strive for true democracy in South Korea.
Sometime in January 1987, a student by the name of Park Jong-cheol died from torture from the government, after refusing to oust his colleagues. This reopened old wounds from the 1980 gwangju massacre, and reignited the passion of koreans to protest which led to the formation of the June Democratic Struggle which eventually forced Chun Doo Hwan to hold a real election which culminated in December 1987 and finally end his 7 year military rule. At around June Roh Tae Woo had informal power, and was promising sweeping democratic reforms in June of 1987, he is formally elected in December of 1987.
I don't think it's very clear whether Snowdrop is happening before Park Jong Cheol has died or after. Or, they maybe will use a fictional character to represent Park Jong Cheol, which will later lead to the June Elections.
I think jtbc released a video on YouTube to explain the scenes that caused controversy.
JTBC should just stop defending to be honest.
The people who dislike the controversy, will keep disliking it regardless if evidence is mounted. All the constant defending is just not making them look any better.
Just curious. If the ML is confirmed to be a korean spy, eventhough he is an unwitting one.And he falls in love…
It's my understanding that the movie is loosely based on memoirs of a North Korean defector.
So it makes sense that NK spy may have initially been meant as a spy, but as soon as he falls in love with the FL, and he sees the wonders of a democratic movement, that he decides to defect and join the pro-democratic movement.
I get JTBC is trying to snuff the growing fire, but they run the risk of contradicting themselves since there could be confusion on the intent of the ML.
It's no different than a republican suddenly becoming a democrat or vice versa.
As far as controversy. I know that any movie/drama that shows North Koreans in a sympathetic light will always have people against it. In fact, if you read up more on it, North Korean defectors in South Korea, are pretty much treated as second class citizen by South Koreans. And some are even suspected as being double agents are kept on surveillance even after defecting.
I read up on much of this after CLOY, because I wondered how North Korean defectors are treated.
There is this North Korean girl who has become popular lately, her name escapes me now, but you can find her on youtube.
News 
Sometime after the assassination of Park Chung Hee, His successor was Choi Kyu Ah, who is ousted from his position by General Chun Doo Hwan, in what is known as the Coup d'état of December Twelfth. This all happened around 1979. After this South Korea entered into a militaristic regime, also called Martial Law.
After Chun Doo Hwan was in power, approximately 100,000 protestors, mostly students, started the pro democracy movement. This all happened in 1980 remember. Gwangju, became the epicentre of radicalism as this region has had a long legacy of radicalism and protest dating back to as far as the Japanese Invasion of Korea. So this was where the Gwanghu Massacre took place, in a span of a few weeks in May 1980, reputedly 170 students were killed and tortured. Modern estimates brings this number up closer to 2,000 - 3,000 people dying. The government at the time has defined these protestor as North Korean and Communist sympathizers.
The 1980 Korean constitution already limits the presidency for up to 7 years. So when Chun Doo Hwan came into power, there was no way he could rule forever. But there was a chance he can directly vote for his successor.
Ever since the Gwangju massacre, Chun Do Hwan became more gun shy about fully flexing his military might, and obviously his popularity took a huge nose dive. After the Gwangju Massacre from 1980 - 1987, college teachers, students and etc, continue to protest and strive for true democracy in South Korea.
Sometime in January 1987, a student by the name of Park Jong-cheol died from torture from the government, after refusing to oust his colleagues. This reopened old wounds from the 1980 gwangju massacre, and reignited the passion of koreans to protest which led to the formation of the June Democratic Struggle which eventually forced Chun Doo Hwan to hold a real election which culminated in December 1987 and finally end his 7 year military rule. At around June Roh Tae Woo had informal power, and was promising sweeping democratic reforms in June of 1987, he is formally elected in December of 1987.
I don't think it's very clear whether Snowdrop is happening before Park Jong Cheol has died or after. Or, they maybe will use a fictional character to represent Park Jong Cheol, which will later lead to the June Elections.
But that's the history in the nutshell.
Have you seen the recent ads luxury brands ran in China?
It was so offensive, that nobody knew how big the blowback would be. I am talking about nationwide cancellation and boycott of brands.
I think it was DNG or something.
Sometimes people just don't estimate properly the public blowback.
I'm going to find a way to VPN this.
Or do knetz not know how the girl groups work in South Korea.
The more I research though the more I can see where some of the flak is coming from.
Either way, best to just try to stay neutral on the politics of this.
She may surprise us.
Regardless if no history was distorted the plot was littered with unecessary landmines.
It's the fact that the victims or families have to relive the tragic events that is triggering.
The people who dislike the controversy, will keep disliking it regardless if evidence is mounted. All the constant defending is just not making them look any better.
I think maybe just because at the time people got killed and falsely imprisoned that made it controversial.
So it makes sense that NK spy may have initially been meant as a spy, but as soon as he falls in love with the FL, and he sees the wonders of a democratic movement, that he decides to defect and join the pro-democratic movement.
I get JTBC is trying to snuff the growing fire, but they run the risk of contradicting themselves since there could be confusion on the intent of the ML.
It's no different than a republican suddenly becoming a democrat or vice versa.
As far as controversy. I know that any movie/drama that shows North Koreans in a sympathetic light will always have people against it. In fact, if you read up more on it, North Korean defectors in South Korea, are pretty much treated as second class citizen by South Koreans. And some are even suspected as being double agents are kept on surveillance even after defecting.
I read up on much of this after CLOY, because I wondered how North Korean defectors are treated.
There is this North Korean girl who has become popular lately, her name escapes me now, but you can find her on youtube.
Snowdrop is a Kdrama, big difference IMO.
If Jisoo's popularity nosedives because of this, it would not make any sense to me.
But yeah I am not so familiar with how crazy K-ent fans can be.