"Are You Jealous Because the Pretty Girl Is Successful?"...Cartoonist Defends Ha Young Amid 'Pro-Japanese Descendant' Controversy

Actor Ha Young Faces Escalating Backlash Over "Descendant of Pro-Japanese Collaborator" Allegations
Yoon Seoin: "Society Beats Her Down Just for Saying She Comes From a Good Family"

Actor Ha Young (real name An Hayoung) recently revealed on a television program that she comes from a "fourth-generation prestigious medical family." However, as evidence surfaced about her great-grandfather’s pro-Japanese activities, she is now facing a strong backlash. Amid this controversy, cartoonist Yoon Seoin openly defended her, stating, "Complaining about pro-Japanese collaborators in 2026 is utter nonsense."

Yoon recently posted on his social media account, "Whether Yoon Seoin defending Hayoung is effective or backfires—sorry, but I couldn’t care less. My only concern is that complaining about pro-Japanese collaborators in 2026 is utterly pointless." He went on to argue that, by 2026, criticizing pro-Japanese collaborators is a meaningless act that brings no positive value.

Actor Ha Young. Ha Young Instagram

"Is society sane if we beat down people just for coming from an affluent family?"

Yoon claimed that merely mentioning her family background on the show should not be subject to criticism. Referring to those who take issue with Hayoung’s remarks as "relative deprivationists," he said, "Is it rational for society to harshly criticize someone simply because she comes from a wealthy background and says her family owns five refrigerators?"

He also sarcastically commented, "Are people so envious that a pretty girl can act well and comes from a wealthy family?" "Did your depressing life improve, even if only briefly, after you ganged up on her using her pro-Japanese grandfather as a pretext?" He then added, "Just do what you always do: grab your pitchforks and mob together to relieve your feelings of relative deprivation."

After seeing Yoon’s post, online commenters responded with remarks such as "Unwanted defense," "Pouring oil on the fire," "Gave her a pro-Japanese authenticity seal," "We can almost hear Hayoung’s frustration," and "Did he write this to make her look worse?"

This controversy erupted from the August 7 broadcast of the KBS 2TV entertainment program "Problem Children in the Rooftop Room." On the show, Hayoung introduced herself as a descendant of a family running a medical business for four generations, saying, "My great-grandfather was the first Korean physician to open a Western medical practice in Hanyang after studying Western medicine in Japan. He even treated Emperor Gojong."

After the broadcast, she quickly drew attention online as the poster child for a "born affluent family." However, when internet users traced the identity of her great-grandfather, it was revealed that he was physician An Sangho, the first to establish a Western medical clinic during Japanese colonial rule, dramatically shifting public sentiment.

An Sangho graduated from Tokyo Jikei Medical School in Japan in 1902, becoming the first Korean to obtain a Japanese medical license. After returning to Korea in 1904, he served as a royal physician to the Crown Prince and a physician consultant to the Imperial Household Agency, as well as founding Korea’s first Western medicine clinic.

Actor Ha Young. Ha Young Instagram

Hayoung’s Great-Grandfather: "I am like a Japanese"

An article published on December 10, 1918 in Maeil Shinbo, an organ of the Governor-General of Korea, titled "The Home Life of Fully Japanized Doctor An Sangho," quoted An as saying, "I am like a Japanese; I wear Japanese clothing and my wife is Japanese. In my family, all our rules and dietary customs are thoroughly Japanese."

He further stated that Korean was not spoken at home, so his children did not know the language, and that there was almost no interaction with Koreans. The Governor-General’s office used the example of this successful Korean intellectual adopting a fully Japanese lifestyle to justify and promote colonial rule, presenting it as the ideal model of assimilation and unity between Korea and Japan.

An Sangho’s name also appears in stories and memoirs surrounding the tragic "Emperor Gojong poisoning" rumors. Lady Yi Bangja, consort to the last crown prince of the Korean Empire, wrote in her memoirs that she "heard the unexpected rumor that the Governor-General’s office had ordered Dr. An Sangho to poison the emperor."

Japanese official Kondo Shirosuke, who was an officer in the Imperial Household at the time, also recorded in his memoir "The Secret Records of the Yi Royal Palace" that rumors circulated of Min Byungseok, Yoon Deokyoung, and others conspiring with Governor-General’s staff to have An Sangho carry out the poisoning.

It was also confirmed that An Sangho was involved in the pro-Japanese group "Daijeong Business Friendly Association (Daijeongchinmokhoe)," established in November 1916 by pro-Japanese and anti-national figure Min Youngki, with high-profile collaborators including Lee Wanyong, Song Byungjun, and Cho Joongung.

In addition, the past career of Hayoung’s grandfather, the late Professor An Buho of Catholic University’s medical school, is also being re-examined. Professor An reportedly worked at the National Sorokdo Hospital from 1949 to the early 1950s, a period when severe human rights violations—such as forced vasectomies (sterilization), forced abortions, and compulsory labor—were committed against Hansen’s disease patients on Sorokdo Island. It is not confirmed whether Professor An was directly involved in any human rights abuses.

Meanwhile, Hayoung’s agency, Visters Entertainment, initially responded firmly to early media inquiries by stating, "There is absolutely no truth to the pro-Japanese suspicions being circulated online." However, after more information—including records of her great-grandfather’s involvement in a pro-Japanese group and actual articles from the Governor-General office’s newspaper—came to light, the agency reversed its position and issued an official statement on the morning of August 11, just one day later. The agency said, "Upon further review, we have confirmed that Mr. An Sangho’s name appeared on the list of council members for the Daijeongchinmokhoe in 1916," and offered an apology.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.