Actor Ha Young. [Herald Muse]
Actor Ha Young. [Herald Muse]

Historian Shim Yong-hwan, director of the Shim Yong-hwan History N Education Research Institute, has issued a second statement on the controversy surrounding allegations that Ahn Sang-ho, the great-grandfather of actor Ha Young, collaborated with Japanese colonial authorities. While acknowledging that the Daejeong fraternal society was a pro-Japanese organization, Shim drew a line against labeling an individual a pro-Japanese collaborator based solely on their appearance in a membership list.

On Thursday, Shim wrote on his Instagram that "the Daejeong fraternal society was indeed a pro-Japanese organization and is one very familiar to historians."

He cited two related research papers: "The Daejeong Fraternal Society and the Naeseon Yunghwa Movement" and "The Daejeong Fraternal Society's Founding and Operation of the Joseon Ilbo in the 1920s," both published by Jang Shin, a standing research fellow at the Institute for Korean Historical Studies and a professor at the Academy of Korean Studies, in 2007 and 2010, respectively.

Shim said Ahn Sang-ho is mentioned six times in the first paper, noting that according to the research, Ahn was listed as one of 21 council members in November 1916 and does not appear in subsequent membership records.

He added that "the paper's author provides only a brief description — that among the medical professionals, there were Ahn Sang-ho and four others, and Ahn is described simply as a former royal physician to Emperor Gojong who operated the Ahn Sang-ho Clinic."

Regarding a 2007 paper by Lee Jeong-eun, a senior researcher at the Independence Hall of Korea's Institute for Korean Independence Movement Studies, titled "The Life and Activities of Ahn Sang-ho, Korea's First Modern Private Physician," Shim said the work "consists mostly of descriptions of his medical volunteer work during epidemic outbreaks as a royal household physician, his role as a founder of a charitable hospital, and his positive contributions to the formation of early modern medical institutions."

Shim went on to say that the paper "explains that Ahn came to be resented by Koreans due to his international marriage to a Japanese woman and coverage in the Maeil Sinbo — a newspaper many of you will recognize — and that he was later implicated in theories about the poisoning of Emperor Gojong."

Shim said that based on this body of evidence, one could conclude that Ahn "was indeed a pro-Japanese collaborator," and added that after examining the matter from multiple angles, "it appears he accommodated himself to colonial rule, was active in spreading modern medicine, but in other areas enjoyed privilege by cooperating with Japanese imperial authorities to a convenient degree." He did not deny that a negative assessment of Ahn was warranted.

However, Shim said "the problem is that, in research on the Daejeong fraternal society, the evidence of his pro-Japanese activities amounts only to the fact of his early membership in what was then a social club, and a handful of fragmentary records from the end of his life that require closer scrutiny."

He wrote that drawing a definitive conclusion from such evidence "may help curry popular favor by going along with the prevailing mood, but it is academically indefensible," adding: "While the so-called presumption of innocence cannot simply be transplanted from law into history, we do not casually label people in everyday life — so how can we speak so easily about the past?"

Shim noted that Ahn's name is currently absent from the Dictionary of Pro-Japanese Collaborators, and that the existing research stands at the level described above. "Naturally, this is a matter that should be decided through further research by scholars, consensus among relevant experts, and public deliberation on the findings," he wrote.

He also said he considered it a personal failing that his earlier statement had caused misunderstanding and offense, and pledged to reflect more carefully going forward. "However, on the question of pro-Japanese collaboration, I hope we can deliberate more deeply and move in a direction that achieves more certain historical progress," he added.

The controversy began after Ha Young appeared on the Aug. 7 episode of KBS 2TV's "Okdapbang-ui Munje-adul," a TV quiz program, and shared her family history as a four-generation line of physicians. Her great-grandfather's identity as Ahn Sang-ho subsequently spread online, and records showing his listing as a council member of the Daejeong fraternal society in 1916, along with an interview published in the Maeil Sinbo — the official organ of the Japanese Government-General of Korea — drew renewed scrutiny and fueled allegations of pro-Japanese collaboration.

Meanwhile, Ha Young posted a handwritten apology on her Instagram on Wednesday, expressing regret over the controversy surrounding her great-grandfather Ahn Sang-ho's alleged pro-Japanese activities.


dbsdn1110@heraldcorp.com