![Actor Ha Young on the set of the KBS2 drama series "Royal Secret Agent." [Ha Young's Instagram]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/08/17/news-p.v1.20260817.3d3a6b88b5ab49709144abf32df1796a_P1.jpg)
As controversy grows over actor Ha Young's great-grandfather and his alleged collaboration with Japanese colonial authorities, scrutiny of the actor's family history and personal background has intensified.
On Monday, posts began circulating on online communities including DC Inside highlighting a remark Ha Young made in January 2021, when she was 27, describing the experience as her "first hanbok in my life."
On Jan. 9, 2021, Ha Young shared photos from the set of the KBS2 drama series "Royal Secret Agent" on her SNS, writing: "My first hanbok in my life — what a fun shoot."
The photos showed her in a pink skirt and light-blue jeogori top during filming. At the time, the post was seen as a simple behind-the-scenes glimpse, but the remark has drawn renewed attention following the recent controversy over her great-grandfather, with some questioning why she would have worn hanbok for the first time in her late twenties.
Some online users reacted with skepticism. "A wealthy family like that wouldn't dress their daughter — the youngest child, no less — in hanbok for the holidays? I have a lot to say but I'll hold back," one wrote. Others noted that hanbok is typically worn at birthday celebrations, kindergartens and elementary schools during traditional holidays. "It's more surprising that she never wore hanbok once until adulthood," another commented. Some responses took a more mocking tone, linking the remark to the recent allegations about her great-grandfather's pro-Japanese activities: "Maybe she only wore kimono."
Others pushed back against what they called excessive speculation. Some argued the post may simply have meant it was her first time wearing hanbok on a film set, and that criticizing someone based on unknown details of their childhood was going too far. Many noted it would be wrong to conclude from a single social media post that Ha Young had never worn hanbok as a child.
Ha Young found herself at the center of controversy after introducing herself on a recent entertainment program as coming from a "four-generation family of doctors" — spanning her great-grandfather, grandfather, father and sister — only for it to emerge that her great-grandfather was Ahn Sang-ho, who had been active in the Daejeong Chinmokhoe, a pro-Japanese organization during the colonial era.
The backlash intensified when additional allegations surfaced, based in part on a 1983 publication on Joseon court customs, suggesting that Ahn Sang-ho's wife was the daughter of a senior Japanese official who had served in the Japanese Government-General of Korea.
Ha Young's agency initially denied the allegations following the great-grandfather controversy. Ha Young later posted a handwritten apology, saying she had "carelessly mentioned family history without properly knowing history," and bowed her head in contrition.
Despite the apology, past remarks and SNS posts by Ha Young have continued to resurface online and draw renewed scrutiny.
The controversy has also sparked broader public interest in genealogical research, with websites allowing users to check whether their ancestors were pro-Japanese collaborators — and others tracing family name origins and notable figures — seeing such a surge in traffic that some experienced temporary outages.
Meanwhile, Ha Young has reportedly continued filming the SBS drama series "Seungsan Itseumnida," scheduled to air next year.
betterj@heraldcorp.com
