of the 1987 June Struggle peaceful mass protest movement that had led to the establishment of democracy in South Korea. Netizens pointed out that the revelation of the male protagonist as a North Korean spy invokes false claims made by the authoritarian Chun Doo-hwan administration against pro-democracy activists that framed them as North Korean spies. Netizens also criticized the character Lee Kang-moo, a fictional agent of the real-life Agency for National Security Planning (ANSP) which served as the intelligence agency of the Chun dictatorship, being purportedly portrayed as just and righteous despite numerous human rights abuses committed by the ANSP. On March 26, JTBC released their first official statement on the controversy that read, "The drama is not distorting the pro-democracy movement nor is it glorifying the Agency for National Security Planning. It is a black comedy drama satirizing 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." On March 30, JTBC released a second statement regarding the controversy that read, "Snowdrop is set around the 1987 presidential election, and not a drama that deals with the pro-democracy movement". The statement continued, "The drama portrays a fictional story about the military regime, the ANSP, and others in power at the time colluding with the North Korean dictatorship and planning a conspiracy to retain their power." Regarding the character Lee Kang-moo, who is an agent of the ANSP, the statement read, "The character is portrayed as a man of principle who turns his back on the corrupt organization and does what he thinks is right." The name of the female protagonist at the time, Eun Young-cho, had drawn scrutiny, as the given name "Young-cho" bore similarity to the name of real-life pro-democracy activist Chun Young-cho. The statement denied that the name of the female protagonist character was in reference to Chun Young-cho, but confirmed that the character's name would be changed. On March 30, protesters parked a truck bearing protest signs at the site of the JTBC building in Seoul. In the period from March 26 to April 25, a total of 226,078 people signed an online petition to the Blue House demanding that production on Snowdrop be stopped. The petition was started shortly after the cancellation of the SBS drama Joseon Exorcist due to accusations of historical negationism. On May 14, the