"Is It in My Family Too?"... "Pro-Japanese Collaborator Scanner" in the Spotlight amid Ha Young's Great-Grandfather Controversy

Enter Your Bon-gwan to Find Independence Activists and Pro-Japanese Collaborators

As controversy continues to mount over the alleged pro-Japanese activities of actor Hayoung (Ahn Hayoung)'s great-grandfather, a new website has been launched that allows users to search for both pro-Japanese collaborators and independence activists who share the same surname and clan origin.

On August 17, various online communities and social networking services (SNS) were abuzz with discussion about the “Pro-Japanese Collaborators Scanner,” a website created by an individual developer. By entering one's clan origin and surname, users can see a list of independence activists and pro-Japanese collaborators who share the same background.

Actor Hayoung (Ahn Hayoung). Photo by Yonhap News

The search results are drawn from the records of 19,059 independence activists registered with the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs’ Electronic Archives of Meritorious Service and the list of 1,006 pro-Japanese collaborators as determined by the Presidential Committee for the Inspection of Collaborations for Japanese Imperialism. The website also supplements clan origin information using resources such as Wikidata and Wikipedia.

In practice, searching for Hayoung's clan origin “Sunheung An” yields 25 independence activists of the same clan, such as Dosan Ahn Changho and patriot Ahn Jung-geun, as well as three pro-Japanese collaborators, including Hayoung’s great-grandfather Ahn Sang-ho and the composer of Korea’s national anthem, Ahn Eak-tai.

However, the website clarifies that search results do not indicate an actual blood relationship. At the bottom of the search results, it states, “Sharing the same clan origin does not mean a direct blood relationship or a certain degree of kinship,” and “There can be hundreds of thousands of members within a single clan origin.” The site also explains, “The actions of ancestors are irrelevant to the personal responsibility of descendants, in accordance with Article 13, Clause 3 of the Constitution, which prohibits guilt-by-association.”

The creation of the website appears to have been influenced by the controversy surrounding Hayoung’s great-grandfather’s alleged pro-Japanese activities. Previously, on August 7, Hayoung appeared on the KBS2 variety show “Problem Child in House,” introducing herself as coming from “four generations of doctors,” with her great-grandfather, grandfather, father, and sister all in the medical profession. After the broadcast, it emerged that Hayoung’s great-grandfather was Ahn Sang-ho, prompting renewed attention to his actions during the Japanese colonial period.

Initially, Hayoung’s agency denied the allegations regarding her great-grandfather's pro-Japanese activities, claiming they were unfounded. However, the agency later reversed its position, and on August 12, Hayoung posted a handwritten apology on SNS.

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