[Edaily Starin Gim Ga Yeong Reporter] As Ahn Sang-ho, the great-grandfather of actress Ha Young, has been embroiled in allegations of pro-Japanese collaboration, her social media accounts have been flooded with posts demanding an explanation.

On the 10th, comments such as “Were you proud of your ancestor?”, “Stop bragging about your family,” “This is shameful,” and “Are you really a descendant of a pro-Japanese collaborator?” were posted on Ha Young’s social media. In particular, netizens continue to post messages demanding an explanation from Ha Young.
Ha Young recently appeared on KBS2’s *The Problem Children of the Attic* and revealed that she comes from a family of doctors spanning four generations. She stated, “My great-grandfather opened the first Western-style medical clinic in Hanyang and treated Emperor Gojong.” She also confessed that while portraying nurse Cheon Jang-mi in the Netflix series *Trauma Center*, she received extensive medical advice from her family.
Subsequently, allegations surfaced in online communities that Ha Young’s great-grandfather was Ahn Sang-ho. Ahn Sang-ho studied Western medicine in Tokyo, Japan, and became the first Korean to open a Western-style hospital; he also treated members of the royal family. He is well known for having treated Emperor Gojong alongside a Japanese doctor in 1919 when the emperor collapsed.
However, Ahn Sang-ho is also a figure suspected of pro-Japanese collaboration. According to an article published in the Maeil Shinbo in 1918, suspicions of pro-Japanese collaboration arose after it was reported that, upon marrying a Japanese woman, Ahn Sang-ho stated, “I am just like a Japanese person. I don’t own a single set of traditional Korean clothing, and I can’t eat spicy food at all.”
As these allegations surfaced, a representative from Ha Young’s agency, Busters Entertainment, told Edaily on the 10th, “While it is true that Ha Young’s great-grandfather is Ahn Sang-ho, the claims circulating in online communities that he was a pro-Japanese collaborator are completely baseless.” Regarding the evidence cited online as proof of Ahn Sang-ho’s pro-Japanese activities, the representative remained tight-lipped, stating only that they are “currently verifying” the claims.
Ha Young made her debut in 2019 with the drama *Doctor Prisoner* and has continued her acting career through shows such as *The Odd Lawyer Woo Young-woo*, *Model Detective 2*, and *Lee Doo-na!*. Last year, she garnered attention both domestically and internationally for her portrayal of nurse Cheon Jang-mi in the drama *Trauma Center*. She recently starred as the lead character, Go Eun-sae, in *Such a Shitty Love*, which was released on Netflix.