[Edaily Starin Reporter Choi Hee-jae ] Kwak Min-seon, a former news anchor and the great-granddaughter of independence activist Kwak Byeong-do, has shared her thoughts on the controversy surrounding actor Ha Young’s great-grandfather’s pro-Japanese activities.

On the 14th, Kwak Min-seon posted on her social media, “I recently heard that on a broadcast, someone’s descendant expressed pride in their great-grandfather, and it left me feeling heartbroken and choked up.” Although she did not mention Ha Young by name, her comments appear to be aimed at the allegations of pro-Japanese collaboration involving Ha Young’s great-grandfather.
She said, “There’s something I’ve come to realize as I’ve grown up: just how difficult life has been for the descendants of independence activists or those honored for their contributions to the independence movement,” adding, “My great-grandfather spent his entire fortune on military funds and was imprisoned while continuing the independence movement.”
She continued, “I’ve heard that the rest of the family also had their property confiscated and suffered under Japanese colonial surveillance and oppression,” and confessed, “When I was young, I once briefly wondered, ‘Why were my grandparents so poor that they remained a burden to my father?’”
Kwak Min-seon said, “I felt guilty that my feelings were different from hers, and I cried for quite a while.” She continued, “My father did his best for his two daughters so that poverty wouldn’t be passed down to us, and we were fortunate enough to grow up happily, surrounded by love,” adding, “However, I know that the life we enjoy today was not something we were simply given.”
She said, “As Liberation Day approaches, I feel a different kind of sadness and guilt than usual,” adding, “I am especially ashamed of my past self, who harbored a misplaced sense of shame.”
She added, “I want to live my life with the aspirations our ancestors sought to uphold deeply engraved in my heart.”
Governor Kwak Byeong-do, known as Kwak Min-seon’s great-grandfather, raised funds for the independence movement in the Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Chungcheong regions in 1912, and continued this work from 1919 onward as a special envoy for the General Committee of the 13 Provinces of Joseon. In 2000, the government posthumously awarded him the Order of National Foundation, Medal of Patriotism.
Ha Young appeared on the KBS2 show “The Problem Children of the Attic,” which aired on the 7th, and introduced her family as a lineage of doctors spanning four generations—from her great-grandfather to her grandfather, father, and older sister. She revealed that her great-grandfather had treated Emperor Gojong. Although Ha Young did not mention her great-grandfather’s name on the show, controversy spread after it became known—based on the background she described—that her great-grandfather was Ahn Sang-ho.
It was revealed that Ahn Sang-ho was active alongside the traitor Lee Wan-yong in the Daejeong Friendship Society, a leading pro-Japanese organization, and took the lead in promoting the “inner and outer as one” propaganda—which effectively equated Korea with Japan—through the official newspaper of the Japanese Government-General of Korea.
On the 12th, Ha Young posted an apology on her social media. She wrote, “Until now, I had only a fragmentary understanding of my great-grandfather’s life based on stories passed down through my family. To my shame, in that state of ignorance, I have spoken of my great-grandfather on various occasions as if he were a source of family pride,” she said. “Through this incident, I took the opportunity to research relevant materials myself and learned of my great-grandfather’s pro-Japanese activities. I deeply regret having casually mentioned my family history without properly understanding the history of our country, which endured the painful period of Japanese colonial rule.”