Institute confirms great-grandfather's pro-Japanese past, urges reflection

The Institute for Research in Collaboration with Japan (Minjok Problem Research Institute), known for its dictionary of pro-Japanese collaborators, has officially confirmed the pro-Japanese activities of Ahn Sang-ho, the great-grandfather of actor Ha Young. While acknowledging Ahn Sang-ho's actions, the institute emphasized that the current controversy should lead to a broader reflection on the historical failure to purge collaborators and the subsequent inheritance of privilege.

Ahn Sang-ho, a physician who graduated from the Imperial Japanese Language School and a medical college in Tokyo, engaged in significant collaboration with the Japanese colonial regime. His pro-Japanese activities included participating in the 'National Memorial Service for Ito Hirobumi,' a private organization honoring the former Japanese Resident General of Korea. He also served in colonial rule structures like the Gyeongseong Prefecture Council and the Gyeongseong Jongno Financial Association, and was active in pro-Japanese groups promoting assimilation.

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The controversy's essence is not that the actor is a 'descendant of a pro-Japanese traitor,' but rather the problem of 'lack of historical awareness and reflection,' where statements are made in the public sphere about ancestral colonial collaboration without minimal historical reflection, thus hurting the public.

Despite these actions, Ahn Sang-ho was not included in the institute's 2009 dictionary of pro-Japanese collaborators. The institute explained that the decision was based on a comprehensive evaluation of the criteria, including the voluntary, active, repetitive, and sustained nature of the actions, and the available evidence at the time. However, they stressed that his absence from the dictionary does not serve as a pardon, and historical record-keeping is an ongoing process.

The institute cautioned against reducing the controversy to mere guilt by association. They argued that the core issue lies not in Ha Young being a descendant of a collaborator, but in the lack of historical reflection and insensitive public statements regarding ancestral collaboration. The institute called for a structural examination of how professional lineages and social assets formed during the colonial era were inherited and passed down as privilege after liberation, without proper reckoning.

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The pro-Japanese and pro-Japanese collaboration activities were also a clear fact behind the brilliant career.