Actor Ha-young. [Herald Muse]
Actor Ha-young. [Herald Muse]

After cartoonist Yoon Seo-in publicly defended actor Ha-young, who has been caught up in allegations that her great-grandfather collaborated with Japanese colonial authorities, online users mocked him with comments such as "he's just earned his own pro-Japanese certification stamp."

On Monday, Yoon shared a screenshot of a statement from Ha-young's agency on his Facebook page, writing, "I feel sorry for Ha-young."

Ha-young's agency, Bisters Entertainment, said that day that "it is true that Ha-young's great-grandfather is Ahn Sang-ho," but dismissed online allegations of pro-Japanese collaboration as "groundless."

The controversy began after Ha-young discussed her family background on broadcasts and in interviews. Known by her legal name Ahn Ha-young, she mentioned on several entertainment programs — including KBS 2TV's "Okdapbang-ui Munje-adul (Rooftop Troublemakers)" — that her family has produced doctors for four generations.

"As far as I remember, my great-grandfather was one of the first people to open a Western medicine clinic in Hanyang at the time," she said on one program. "After studying medicine in Japan, he opened the first Western-style clinic in Hanyang and treated Emperor Gojong."

Following the broadcast, speculation spread through online communities that her great-grandfather was Ahn Sang-ho. As his past activities came under renewed scrutiny, the controversy escalated into allegations of pro-Japanese collaboration.

Yoon's public defense drew a wave of reactions on social media and online communities, with users writing that he had "gotten himself mixed up in it," that he had "earned his pro-Japanese certification stamp," and that he had been "branded with the seal."

Yoon sparked controversy in 2021 when he posted on social media an image comparing the tidy home of a pro-Japanese collaborator's descendant with the run-down home of an independence activist's descendant.

At the time, he drew criticism for writing: "Come to think of it, maybe even 100 years ago, the so-called pro-Japanese collaborators were the ones who worked hard, while the independence activists were the ones who lived carelessly."


dbsdn1110@heraldcorp.com