With revelations that actress Ha-young's great-grandfather was a council member of a pro-Japanese organization, the advertising industry has begun to distance itself.
On the 11th, OSEN confirmed that clothing brand Atid made private the advertisement video Ha-young filmed last year. The reason for making it private was not disclosed exactly, but it appears to be due to recent allegations about the great-grandfather's pro-Japanese actions.
Ha-young said in interviews and on the recently aired KBS2 "Problem Child in House" that her family had four generations of doctors: her great-grandfather, grandfather, father and older sister. She especially said of her great-grandfather, "At that time he opened the first yang clinic in Hanyang. He also treated Emperor Gojong."
Afterward, suspicions spread that Ha-young's great-grandfather was An Sang-ho. An Sang-ho entered Tokyo Jikei Medical School in Japan in 1898, passed the medical licensing examination in 1902, returned to Korea and is reported to have treated Emperor Gojong with a Japanese doctor when the emperor collapsed from a cerebral hemorrhage in 1919. However, a 1918 article in the Maeil Shinbo, the organ of the Japanese general government, raised allegations of pro-Japanese actions, saying An Sang-ho had married a Japanese wife and was following Japanese lifestyle practices.
Ha-young's side said An Sang-ho was indeed the great-grandfather but that the pro-Japanese allegations were "groundless," but a day later said, "Upon further verification, we confirmed that a record actually exists listing teacher An Sang-ho among the council members of the Daijō Chinmokhoe in 1916. We sincerely apologize for hastily replying 'groundless' without sufficient verification and causing confusion."
The agency said that because the controversy was unintended, Ha-young herself is feeling very heavy-hearted, and added, "We deeply reflect on causing concern with this matter, and going forward we will conduct ourselves with greater caution and humility."
[OSEN]