Television network JTBC has released a statement about the escalated controversy surrounding "Snowdrop", the new South Korean series starring mega K-pop idol Jisoo of BLACKPINK and Jung Hae In in the main roles.

The seeds of controversy were sown earlier this year in March when JTBC had released two statements after the announcement of the show.

After the show was premiered, viewers raised concerns about the distortion of history in "Snowdrop", which led to a negative buzz on social media.

Matters took a turn for the worse when a national Blue House petition was created, which urged JTBC to take the drama off-air, following its premiere.

The petition stated that during the democratization movement there were definite activist victims who were killed or tortured because they were accused falsely of being spies without any base. The value of the democratization movement is undermined by creating a drama with a plot like that despite the historical truth.

The petition had reportedly got more than 300,000 signatures as of noon December 21. According to media reports, many sponsors have also pulled out from "Snowdrop".

JTBC has now released a statement saying that after the broadcast of the show, controversy is not ending based on false information, so the channel is releasing a statement.

According to the statement, the motive and background for important incidents in the show are in the military regime time. With this backdrop, it is a fictional story of the ruling party colluding with the North Korean government for maintaining maintain authority. JTBC said that "Snowdrop" is a creative work that portrays the personal stories of people who were victimized and used and victimized by those in power.

"Snowdrop" has no spy leading the democratization movement. The male and female protagonists were not shown as participants or leaders in the democratization movement in episodes 1 and 2, and nor will they do so in any part of the future script. JTBC feels that most of the misunderstandings and criticisms about concerns of disparaging the democratization movement and history distortion will get settled through the progress of the show's plot.

The drama includes the intention of the production team of hoping for no repetition of an era that was abnormal in which personal happiness and freedom were oppressed by unjust power.

JTBC requested all the viewers to watch over the plot's future progress. The network also added that they will be opening the official viewers' message board and portal site's real-time chat window to hear everyone's valuable feedback regarding JTBC's content.

The network ended the statement by saying that its main values are to aim for production independence and content creation freedom.