Controversy over actor Ha-young's great-grandfather's pro-Japanese activities has also been highlighted by Japanese media.
According to the Japanese online outlet Abema Times on the 21st, the outlet reported on allegations of pro-Japanese activities by Ha-young's great-grandfather, Ahn Sang-ho, which recently surfaced in Korea, and on Korean society's reaction.
Kim Kyung-joo, a professor at Tokai University in Japan, said, "It can be recognized as fact that the great-grandfather engaged in multiple pro-Japanese acts," but also noted, "There is a deeply rooted view that responsibility for pro-Japanese acts should be limited to the person who committed them, and that it is wrong to hold family members or descendants accountable."
As for why criticism of Ha-young has grown, he pointed to the fact that pro-Japanese figures accumulated wealth in return for collaborating with Imperial Japan. Kim said, "Ha-young boasted, 'My family is wealthy and from a good lineage,' and the issue is whether that wealth is the result of pro-Japanese acts."
Regarding young Koreans' views of Japan, he analyzed, "Young people today like Japan but judge historical issues separately," adding, "It is a very difficult environment for politics to stoke anti-Japanese sentiment as in the past."
On Lee Jae-myung's government's handling of Korea-Japan relations, he assessed that it is "managing and leading them very well," but predicted that if controversy flares amid moves to tighten regulations related to pro-Japanese collaborators, public opinion could spread quickly.