Ha-young leaves next season of ‘The Trauma Code’ amid controversy over great-grandfather

Ha-young will leave the next season of Netflix’s “The Trauma Code” after controversy surrounding her great-grandfather’s record during Japan’s colonial rule.

A Netflix representative told the Hankyoreh that Ha-young would not appear in the follow-up, saying the company respected the actor’s position. She had played Cheon Jang-mi, a nurse on the trauma team, in the first season and had been expected to return alongside Ju Ji-hoon and Choo Young-woo.

The series follows a brilliant doctor who saves patients with a scalpel and combines medical drama with comedy. Netflix released its first season on Jan. 24 last year, and it became one of the most-watched non-English television programs on the service.

The controversy began after Ha-young discussed her family on the KBS variety show “Problem Child in House” last month. She said her family had produced doctors for four generations and that her great-grandfather had treated Emperor Gojong.

After the broadcast, reports identified the great-grandfather as Ahn Sang-ho, a physician who worked during the colonial period. Although his name does not appear in the pro-Japanese figures dictionary published by the Research Institute for National Issues, attention focused on a 1918 article in the colonial government’s Maeil Shinbo newspaper that presented his family as an example of “unity between Japan and Korea.” He was also listed as a council member of the pro-Japanese group Daejeong Mutual Friendship Association.

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We respect the actor’s position, and Ha-young will not appear in the follow-up to The Trauma Code.