Amid ongoing controversies surrounding the pro-Japanese activities of actor Ha-young's great-grandfather, Ahn Sang-ho, Japanese media outlets have defined the criticism directed at Ha-young as a stigma of being a "descendant of pro-Japanese collaborators" and a modern-day system of guilt by association.
The conservative Japanese media outlet JBpress published a column titled "Why Does Korea Not Forgive the Descendants of Pro-Japanese Collaborators?"
The article stated, "There is a scarlet letter that has haunted the South Korean entertainment industry for a long time—none other than the stigma of being a 'descendant of pro-Japanese collaborators.'"
JBpress argued, "The past actions of a great-grandfather whom Ha has never even met are being made into an issue," adding, "It is completely incomprehensible."
Professor Kamoshika Hiromi, a guest commentator for Fuji TV, also stated in a separate column, "There is a saying in South Korea that goes, 'If you engage in the independence movement, three generations will ruin, but if you collaborate with Japan, three generations will prosper.'" He criticized the situation by saying that while it is important not to forget the past, treating suspicions about a great-grandfather as grounds to even hide advertisements is a modern-day form of "guilt by association."
Voices defending Ha-young have also emerged online in Japan.
One netizen remarked, "It is a fascinating country where celebrities come so diligently to Japan to make money, only to be criticized simply for being pro-Japanese." Another netizen expressed, "It is terrifying that a great-grandson has to apologize just because his great-grandfather was a pro-Japanese collaborator."
Domestic voices defending Ha-young have also appeared in some quarters.
Park Yu-ha, professor emeritus at Sejong University and author of the controversial book "Comfort Women of the Empire"—which sparked backlash for describing wartime comfort women as being in a "comradely relationship with the Japanese military"—criticized the pro-Japan controversy surrounding Ha-young as an "obsession with pro-Japan sentiment."
Professor Park further fueled the controversy by telling those criticizing Ha-young, "If you trace back your ancestry, you might have Japanese ancestors," and claiming, "Your own grandfather might have been among the hundreds of thousands who volunteered for the military."
(Reported by Jung Da-eun | Video by Choi Kang-san | Graphics by Yook Do-hyun | Produced by SBS Digital News)
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