Korean Actress Ahn Ha-young Apologizes for Great-Grandfather’s Pro-Japanese Ties
AI-generated context summary requested by a Free News Reader user. Sourced via Gemini from publicly available information — no paywalled content was accessed.
You hit a paywall. Here’s the context on this topic based on publicly available information. We did not access any paywalled content. View original article.
Korean Actress Ahn Ha-young Apologizes for Great-Grandfather's Pro-Japanese Ties
- Actress Ahn Ha-young apologized after her agency confirmed on August 11, 2026, that her great-grandfather, Ahn Sang-ho, was a council member of the Daejeong Friendship Association in 1916, an organization active during Japan's colonial rule of Korea.
- The controversy began after Ahn Ha-young mentioned her family's four generations of doctors on the KBS show "Problem Child In House" on August 7, 2026, leading to public scrutiny of Ahn Sang-ho's historical activities.
Full Summary — powered by AI
Korean actress Ahn Ha-young has issued an apology after her agency, Bistus Entertainment, reversed an earlier denial and confirmed that her great-grandfather had ties to a pro-Japanese colonial group. The controversy arose after Ahn Ha-young, who stars in the Netflix romantic comedy *Our Sticky Love*, spoke about her family’s four generations of doctors on the KBS variety show “Problem Child In House” on August 7, 2026. She mentioned that her great-grandfather had studied Western medicine in Japan and opened the first Western-style clinic in Hanyang, even treating Emperor Gojong.
These remarks prompted online speculation and investigation into her great-grandfather’s past, with social media users identifying him as Ahn Sang-ho (1872-1927). Records indicate that Ahn Sang-ho was a council member of the Daejeong Friendship Association in 1916, an organization considered pro-Japanese during Japan’s 1910-1945 colonial rule of Korea.
Initially, on August 10, 2026, Bistus Entertainment denied the allegations, calling them “groundless.” However, on August 11, 2026, the agency issued a new statement acknowledging the existence of records confirming Ahn Sang-ho’s membership in the Daejeong Friendship Association. The agency apologized for the confusion caused by their initial, unverified statement and emphasized the importance of thorough historical verification. Ahn Ha-young also posted a handwritten apology, expressing her shame and regret for having spoken about her great-grandfather as a source of family pride despite her incomplete knowledge of his past. The controversy has led to the cancellation of promotional events for *Our Sticky Love*, including a press interview originally scheduled for August 14, 2026, the day before Korea’s Liberation Day. Reruns of her appearance on “Problem Child In House” and some advertisements featuring her have also been removed.