[Sportschosun, Reporter Kim Soo-hyun] Singer Jeon Bum Sun, who drew attention after revealing that he is a descendant of a pro-Japanese collaborator, has once again spoken about his family background and his feelings as controversy grows over actor Ha Young's own alleged family ties to pro-Japanese collaborators.
Jeon Bum Sun, the vocalist of the band Yangbans and a history major, previously said in April on a YouTube channel that his maternal fifth-generation grandfather was Yi In-jik, the first writer of modern Korean fiction and a notorious pro-Japanese collaborator. His revelation resonated widely.
On the 13th, Jeon appeared on the YouTube channel Maebul Show and again explained how he came to disclose that he was a descendant of a pro-Japanese collaborator.
He said he did not know he was descended from a pro-Japanese collaborator until college. While studying at Dartmouth College in the United States, he was deeply moved by the life of Dr. Homer Hulbert, who contributed to Korea's modernization and the independence movement. After returning to Korea, he briefly worked at the Hulbert Foundation.
His mother, who had been watching his activities from the sidelines, asked him, "Do you know what kind of family you come from?" She then told him the dark truth, saying, "Your ancestor was Yi In-jik." Jeon explained, "I knew Yi In-jik well as the author of Tears of Blood, but my mother said he was not just a pro-Japanese figure who worked as Yi Wanyong's interpreter, but an extraordinary pro-Japanese collaborator," adding that he was shocked. Yi In-jik was the great-great-grandfather of Jeon's maternal grandmother.
Jeon said, "Yi In-jik remarried a Japanese woman and in effect abandoned our family," adding, "So we did not benefit from him at all, and my mother lived while hiding that past."
He said he later came to feel ashamed of his ancestor's pro-Japanese activities and, as a history major, developed a new awareness of modern Korean history. He even said he had considered writing a novel about Hulbert and Yi In-jik, who would have lived in the same era.
Jeon added that he wrote a history book to overcome the trauma of being a descendant of a pro-Japanese collaborator and to heal himself. Still, he said he could not include Yi In-jik in the book, leaving the matter unresolved.
shyun@sportschosun.com
This article has been translated by GripLabs Mingo AI.
