[Sportschosun, Jung Yoo-na] As controversy continues over allegations that actress Ha Young's great-grandfather had pro-Japanese ties, a website that lets users check whether their family includes pro-Japanese collaborators or independence patriots is drawing attention online.
A recently created tool by an individual developer, called the "Pro-Japanese Collaborator Scanner," has been widely shared on social media and various online communities.
The "Pro-Japanese Collaborator Scanner" works by allowing users to enter their surname and clan origin, then check separate lists of independence patriots and pro-Japanese collaborators associated with that clan origin. As the controversy over Ha Young's great-grandfather spreads, interest appears to be growing among people wondering whether similar figures exist in their own family line.
The site provides information by cross-referencing the MPVA's Merit Digital Archives, which contain records of independence patriots' achievements, with the decision list compiled by the Commission for the Investigation of Pro-Japanese Collaborators' Activities. It is also said to supplement clan-origin information using public sources such as Korean Wikipedia.
However, the site states, "The same clan origin does not mean a direct blood relationship, and in line with the constitutional principle banning collective punishment, an ancestor's actions do not become the responsibility of a descendant as an individual."
Earlier, Ha Young mentioned on a recent broadcast that her family was a "four-generation family of doctors." But when her great-grandfather was identified as Ahn Sang-ho, who worked as a doctor during the Japanese colonial period, suspicions arose over his alleged pro-Japanese activities at the time.
Ahn Sang-ho's name appears on the list of 21 council members of the Daejeong Friendship Association, an organization founded in 1916. According to a 2007 paper, "The Daejeong Friendship Association and the Naeseon Harmony Movement," by Jang Shin, a senior researcher at The Institute for Korean Historical Studies, the Police Bureau of the Japanese Government-General of Korea described the association in 1927 as a "Naeseon harmony group that acknowledges colonial rule and aims to promote harmony between Koreans and Japanese."
Bang Hak-jin, secretary-general of the Center for Historical Truth and Justice, who participated in compiling the Dictionary of Pro-Japanese Collaborators from 2009, also said in interviews with KBS and YTN that "Ha Young's great-grandfather, Ahn Sang-ho, was indeed a pro-Japanese collaborator."
As the controversy grew, Ha Young eventually released a handwritten apology on the 12th and said, "I take my wrongdoing seriously and sincerely apologize as a descendant. I am even more sorry to have caused trouble 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.
