[Sportschosun, Reporter Jung Yu-na] As controversy grows over pro-Japanese activities linked to actor Ha Young's great-grandfather, Ahn Sang-ho, Anyang-si has made private an official post that once introduced him as an independence activist.
According to Anyang-si on the 13th, the post was written in 2020 by a citizen reporter team to mark the 75th anniversary of Korea's liberation, under the theme "Searching for Anyang-si's independence activists."
At the time, Ahn Sang-ho was introduced as one of the independence activists from the Anyang area. But as controversy over his pro-Japanese activities resurfaced recently, the city made the post private on the 11th in the citizen reporter section of its official Naver blog.
An official from Anyang-si said, "I understand that when the article was posted, Ahn Sang-ho's pro-Japanese activities had not been identified." The official added, "As related controversy has continued recently, we made the post private."
Earlier, Ha Young mentioned her family's history as a "fourth-generation family of doctors" on a recent broadcast. She then came under suspicion of pro-Japanese ties after her great-grandfather was identified as Ahn Sang-ho, who is said to have worked as a doctor during the Japanese colonial period.
Ahn Sang-ho's name appeared on the list of 21 council members of Daejongchinmokhoe, an organization founded in 1916. According to a 2007 paper, "Daejongchinmokhoe and the Naeseon Fusion Movement," by senior researcher Jang Shin of The Institute for Korean Historical Studies, the Police Bureau of the Japanese Government-General of Korea described Daejongchinmokhoe in 1927 as "a Naeseon fusion group that acknowledges colonial rule and aims to promote harmony between Koreans and Japanese."
As the backlash intensified, Ha Young released a handwritten apology on the 12th and said, "I take my ancestor's wrongdoing seriously and sincerely apologize as a descendant. I am even more sorry for causing concern at a time ahead of National Liberation Day of Korea because of my shortcomings."
jyn2011@sportschosun.com
This article has been translated by GripLabs Mingo AI.
