Before getting into this, you need to understand a little bit of South Korean history so you can understand why Koreans are reacting so strongly. I’ll keep it brief, but if you’re curious, I encourage you to look into it yourselves.
From 1910 to 1945, Korea was under Japanese colonial rule. During this period, Koreans were subjected to various forms of colonial oppression, including forced labor, suppression of Korean language and culture, and other forms of exploitation. There were also serious wartime abuses, including the coercive mobilization of Koreans for labor and the exploitation of women as so-called “comfort women” for the Japanese military.
This history is still deeply remembered in Korea today, and issues surrounding Japanese colonialism, war crimes, and collaboration with the Japanese colonial government remain extremely sensitive.
That is why many Koreans have such a strong negative reaction toward families whose ancestors actively collaborated with the Japanese colonial authorities.
Just as I explained, Japan colonized Korea in the past and left Koreans with a deeply painful history.
So you might reasonably think:
Honestly, this is a very complicated issue. If I were a foreigner, I would probably think the same way.
But as a Korean, let me try to explain why many Koreans see this differently.
The controversy started on August 7, 2026, when actress Ha-young appeared on the variety show Problem Child in House and talked about her great-grandfather, Ahn Sang-ho, referring to him as the source of the family’s “doctor DNA.” Shortly afterward, records about his alleged collaboration with the Japanese colonial government came to light, along with records concerning her grandfather, Ahn Bu-ho, who worked at Sorokdo, an institution where people with Hansen’s disease were subjected to severe human-rights abuses.
In her apology, Ha-young said that she had mentioned her family on television because she was not fully aware of what her ancestors had done.
2. The history behind the controversy
Her great-grandfather, Ahn Sang-ho, graduated from the Tokyo Jikei Medical School in Japan in 1902 and even participated in providing medical treatment to members of the Korean imperial family. On the surface, that sounds impressive.
However, historical records indicate that in 1916 he became a council member of the pro-Japanese organization Daejeong Friendship Association, and in a 1918 interview with Maeil Shinbo, he reportedly stated that he lived much like the Japanese and had very little interaction with Koreans.
There are also controversies surrounding his alleged involvement in the treatment of King Gojong, including suspicions surrounding the circumstances of Gojong’s death, as well as his involvement in treating Yi Wan-yong, one of the most infamous Korean collaborators with the Japanese colonial government.
To be clear, treating Yi Wan-yong as a physician is not itself evidence of wrongdoing. A doctor has a professional and ethical duty to treat a patient regardless of who that patient is. The controversy is about Ahn Sang-ho’s broader relationship with the Japanese colonial establishment, not simply the fact that he treated Yi Wan-yong.
Then there is her grandfather, Ahn Bu-ho.
He worked at Sorokdo Hospital from 1943 to 1953. During that period, people with Hansen’s disease were subjected to horrific human-rights abuses, including forced isolation, forced labor, imprisonment, physical abuse, and deaths resulting from institutional violence. There were also forced autopsies performed on deceased patients, forced sterilization procedures, forced abortions, and cases in which aborted fetuses were preserved in formaldehyde as specimens. Children born to patients were also forcibly separated from their parents, creating generations of broken families.
And these abuses did not simply disappear after liberation. Forced sterilization and other forms of abuse continued for decades, in some cases until around the 1990s.
These are not merely rumors circulating online. Investigations by South Korea’s National Human Rights Commission documented serious human-rights violations at Sorokdo.
At the time, there were thousands of patients but only a handful of officially appointed doctors. Because of that, it is difficult to completely dismiss the possibility that medical personnel working there either participated in, tolerated, or at least failed to prevent some of these abuses.
There have also been controversies involving her father, Ahn Byung-moon, concerning books related to pro-Japanese figures.
So, as a Korean who has learned about our history and understands the suffering that occurred during those periods, I can understand why some Koreans have a hard time simply saying, “She’s talented, attractive, and a good actress, so what’s the problem?”
I’ve seen a lot of arguments about this on social media, especially between Koreans and foreigners who don’t know much about Korean history. And honestly, that made me feel a little frustrated.
It’s not that Koreans are saying “She inherited her ancestors’ sins.”
The question is more complicated than that.
Why should she be held responsible for things her great-grandfather or grandfather did?
I don’t know if she should be.
But at the same time, if someone comes from a family with a history involving colonial collaboration or serious human-rights abuses, is it really unreasonable for Koreans to feel uncomfortable when that person publicly talks about their family with pride without knowing that history?
That’s the part I struggle with.
I’m not saying “She is guilty because her ancestors were guilty.” That’s obviously not how individual responsibility works.
I’m saying that before criticizing Koreans for being angry, at least try to understand why this history is so painful to us.
That’s all I’m asking.
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