[Sportschosun Jo Min-jeong] Actress Ha Young has been facing backlash over a pro-Japanese controversy involving her great-grandfather, but her Instagram followers have actually increased.
As of the afternoon of the 11th, Ha Young's official Instagram account had 1,009,000 followers. That is up by about 26,000 from roughly 983,000 just a few days earlier.
There are several interpretations of why Ha Young's SNS following has grown.
One view is that interest in the work itself rose after the Netflix series "Our Sticky Love," released on the 7th, topped Netflix Korea's "Top 10 Today" list.
There is also considerable public opinion that criticism is being directed too heavily at Ha Young, who is a descendant rather than the person at the center of the controversy. Online, comments have continued to appear, such as, "She already apologized, so should descendants be held responsible for their ancestors' actions?" "The work and the actor should be viewed separately," and "Criticism aimed at Ha Young personally is excessive." As these reactions have overlapped, some believe more users have visited Ha Young's SNS directly and followed her because of the controversy.
Recently, Ha Young introduced her family as a "fourth-generation family of doctors" on KBS2's variety show "Problem Child in House." After the broadcast, her great-grandfather Ahn Sang-ho's activities during the Japanese colonial period came back into focus, sparking the pro-Japanese controversy. Her agency, Visters Entertainment, initially said that "some parts are not true," but after additional verification on the 11th, it corrected its earlier position and apologized, saying there was a record showing Ahn Sang-ho's name on the list of council members for the Daejung Friendship Association in 1916.
The agency said, "We sincerely apologize for causing confusion by responding hastily without sufficient verification," adding, "Actress Ha Young is also deeply burdened by the unintended controversy."
As the controversy continues, Ha Young is scheduled to take part in a roundtable interview for the Netflix series "Our Sticky Love" on the 14th, one day before National Liberation Day of Korea. Since it is an official event held the day before the holiday, questions about the series are expected, along with possible questions about the controversy.
Jo Min-jeong mj.cho@sportschosun.com
This article has been translated by GripLabs Mingo AI.
