Writer and drama writer Son Jae-won criticized actress Ha-young, who has been embroiled in allegations that her great-grandfather was a pro-Japanese collaborator.
On the 10th, Son Jae-won appealed in frustration, "Ahead of Liberation Day, I read a bitter article. Now it has become a world where even ancestors with pro-Japanese records are a source of pride. I never thought I would live to see people boasting about pro-Japanese ancestors... Is it because our history did not punish the pro-Japanese collaborators? If history had punished pro-Japanese collaborators, would descendants be able to say such things proudly? From now on, we may have to teach children the dirty rule that success and glory come from betraying the country. I will express my feelings below."
He wrote, "My son! If our country is ever taken from us, you must become a traitor to the country! Make sure those who try to reclaim the country are suppressed with guns and spears so you can amass wealth!" and "What if we then recover the country? Don't worry. We learned the lesson that history repeats itself during the Japanese colonial period, didn't we? Then use the seized wealth to extend favors toward power. Power will protect you and will first reach out to cooperate for mutual survival."
He continued, "Remember this well! Build a strong fortress that ordinary people can never penetrate with people like you. That way you will not be punished as a traitor, your descendants can enjoy everything in Korea without effort, and they will live respecting and boasting about you," and "My son! Do not take part in the independence movement! No matter what happens, do not fight for the country! Those people met miserable deaths where their bodies could not even be found by the invaders, or they were assassinated or executed in the conspiracies of powers colluding with traitors. The descendants of independence activists also lived under the domination of traitors! This is not a lie. Isn't the reality you and your father live in exactly that!"
He also urged, "Remember this well! History repeats itself! It is not a possibility. It is a truth! My son! Do you truly want this kind of repeated history that your father speaks of? Do you want to live for generations watching descendants of pro-Japanese collaborators boast about being from pro-Japanese families? If not, you must change now. We must create a present where descendants of pro-Japanese collaborators are ashamed and descendants of independence fighters are proud, so that we can finally be proud before history and before the great independence fighters and their descendants."
Finally he added, "It may be late, but it is not impossible. You can change even now. If the changed today is recorded in history, that will be enough. I am not generous enough to live watching descendants of pro-Japanese collaborators boast! Let us leave as a precedent a history in which we punish treason so that descendants who boast of treason will feel shame and disgrace!"
On the recent KBS2 program Problem Child in House, Ha-young said her great-grandfather, after studying in Japan, opened the first Western-style hospital in Hanyang and even treated Emperor Gojong.
Ha-young's great-grandfather was identified as Ahn Sang-ho. Ahn Sang-ho entered Tokyo Jikei Medical School in 1898, passed the medical licensing exam in 1902 and returned home, and is known to have treated Emperor Gojong alongside a Japanese doctor when Gojong collapsed from a cerebral hemorrhage in 1919. However, a 1918 article in Maeil Shinbo, the organ of the Japanese general government, raised suspicions of pro-Japanese activity, saying Ahn Sang-ho married a Japanese woman and followed a Japanese way of life.
On the 11th, Ha-young's agency said, "We would like to address the part we previously said was 'groundless.' After additional verification, we confirmed that there is an actual record listing Teacher Ahn Sang-ho, the great-grandfather, as a member of the Daijō Chinmoku-kai council in 1916. We sincerely apologize for causing confusion by hastily answering that it was 'groundless' without sufficient verification."
[Photo] OSEN DB, Son Jae-won SNS, broadcast capture
[OSEN]