Ha Young’s agency has apologized after confirming that her great-grandfather’s name appears in records tied to a pro-Japanese organization during Korea’s Japanese colonial period.
BISTUS Entertainment said on August 11th that it had conducted additional checks after previously calling the claims “groundless.”
“After further verification, we confirmed that a record does in fact exist listing her great-grandfather, Dr. Ahn Sang Ho, among the council members of the Taisho Friendship Association in 1916,” the agency said.
“We sincerely apologize for causing confusion by hastily stating that the claims were groundless without sufficient verification.”
The controversy followed Ha Young’s recent comments about coming from four generations of doctors. She had said her great-grandfather studied medicine in Japan, opened one of the earliest Western medicine clinics in Hanyang and treated Emperor Gojong.
After Ahn Sang Ho was identified as her great-grandfather, questions were raised about his activities during the colonial period. Her agency initially confirmed the family connection on the 10th but stated “some of the claims being circulated online differ from the facts.”
In its latest statement, the agency said Ha Young felt “deeply troubled” that her comments about her family history had unintentionally sparked controversy. The actress said, “I will approach things with greater care and humility going forward.”
Ahn Sang Ho graduated from Tokyo Jikei Medical School in 1902 and became the first Korean to obtain a Japanese medical license. He later served as a royal physician and opened one of Korea’s earliest Western medicine clinics.
Records also show that he was affiliated with the Taisho Friendship Association, a pro-Japanese group founded in 1916 whose members included several prominent collaborators with Japan’s colonial rule.
Ha Young’s grandfather, the late professor Ahn Boo Ho, has also drawn attention after it was revealed that he worked at Sorokdo Hospital while researching Hansen’s disease from 1949 until around 1953 or 1954.
The hospital has a documented history of severe human rights abuses against Hansen’s disease patients. According to a 2005 investigation by South Korea’s National Human Rights Commission, patients were subjected to forced sterilizations and abortions, while some were only allowed to live with their spouses after undergoing vasectomies. The investigation also documented forced labor, invasive medical experiments and autopsies performed without the consent of patients’ families.
>> Ha Young Reveals She Comes From Four Generations of Doctors
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