Actor Ha Young speaks at a press conference for the new Netflix series "This Messy Thing Called Love" held at Hotel Naru Seoul MGallery in Mapo-gu, Seoul, on Wednesday. [Yonhap/Netflix]
Actor Ha Young speaks at a press conference for the new Netflix series "This Messy Thing Called Love" held at Hotel Naru Seoul MGallery in Mapo-gu, Seoul, on Wednesday. [Yonhap/Netflix]

An old newspaper essay written by the father of actor Ha Young is drawing renewed attention online, as controversy continues over the pro-Japanese collaboration record of Ha Young's great-grandfather — a scandal that erupted after she revealed on a television program that her family has produced doctors across four generations.

On Tuesday, an excerpt from a 2002 JoongAng Ilbo essay by Ha Young's father, orthopedic surgeon Ahn Byung-moon, began circulating across multiple online communities under the title "A letter from Ha Young's father to his daughter."

The essay takes the form of a letter from Ahn to his eldest daughter, who was born with brachydactyly — a congenital condition causing abnormally short fingers or toes — and had briefly returned to South Korea from her studies in the United States to give a solo piano recital.

In the essay, Ahn described his family as "one of the rare medical dynasties," noting that his great-grandfather Ahn Sang-ho had served as the inaugural president of the Hanseong Medical Association — the forerunner of the Korean Medical Association — and that his grandfather Ahn Bu-ho had served as director of Sacred Heart Hospital. "Thanks to that legacy, your father passed through what are called prestigious schools for high school and university, and carried on the family trade," he wrote. He also recounted how smoothly his career had progressed thanks to his grandfather: "After finishing university in 1976, I trained at the hospital where my grandfather worked and rose to chief of training by the age of 31."

One line in particular drew sharp reactions from internet users: "When I think about it, the reason I can speak so freely to you about all this is that time has flowed on our side, and I am grateful for it."

In context, the line appears to express gratitude for a gradual shift in society's attitudes toward disability. But many online readers connected it to the pro-Japanese collaboration record of great-grandfather Ahn Sang-ho, interpreting it as something a descendant of a collaborator would say.

Commenters poured out criticism. "It's chilling that he says time has flowed in their favor," one wrote. Others said: "They lived lavishly on money earned through national betrayal"; "If it weren't for Syngman Rhee, they would have been purged long ago"; "A pro-Japanese family, and yet so full of pride"; "Because they're a collaborator family, even a disabled child could study in the US — all thanks to the parents' background"; "Haven't they been boasting about their medical credentials for generations while leaving out the pro-Japanese record?"; and "If collaborators had been properly purged, none of this would be happening."

Ahn Sang-ho graduated from Tokyo Jikei Medical School in Japan in 1902 and became the first Korean to obtain a Japanese medical license. After returning to Korea in 1904, he served as a royal physician to Emperor Sunjong and as a contracted doctor to the Yi Royal Household Office, and opened Korea's first Western-style medical clinic.

He was featured in the Maeil Sinbo — the official organ of the Japanese Government-General of Korea — as a "model case of naeseon ilche," the colonial policy of assimilating Korea into Japan, and is confirmed to have been a member of the pro-Japanese organization Daejong Silop Chinmok-hoe. That group was founded in November 1916 under the chairmanship of Min Yeong-gi, vice president of the Oriental Development Company and himself a pro-Japanese collaborator, and counted among its members numerous other collaborators of the era, including Lee Wan-yong, Jo Jung-eung, Song Byeong-jun and Lee Yun-yong.

Ha Young's agency, Bisters Entertainment, confirmed Tuesday that "Ha Young's great-grandfather is indeed Ahn Sang-ho, and her grandfather is the late Ahn Bu-ho, who served as a department head professor at the Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine," adding that "records exist showing Ahn Sang-ho's name on the list of council members of the Daejong Chinmok-hoe, formed in 1916."

Earlier, Ha Young appeared on KBS 2TV's "Oktapbang-ui Munje-adeul," a TV quiz show that aired Friday, and said her great-grandfather had completed studies in Japan before opening the first Western-style hospital in Hanyang and serving as physician to Emperor Gojong. She also revealed that her family has produced doctors across four generations — her great-grandfather, grandfather, father and elder sister — drawing wide attention.


jshan@heraldcorp.com