Actor Ha Young's next project is a Japanese drama remake amid pro-Japanese ancestry controversy

The upcoming SBS drama series starring actor Ha Young — who has been embroiled in controversy over her great-grandfather's pro-Japanese colonial collaboration — turns out to be a remake of a Japanese drama series.

According to entertainment industry sources Wednesday, Ha Young has been cast as the lead in the new SBS Friday-Saturday drama series Seungsan Itseumnida, which is targeting a February broadcast next year and is currently in production.

Ha Young attended filming as scheduled on Tuesday, the day controversy erupted over her great-grandfather Ahn Sang-ho's pro-Japanese activities — just ahead of Liberation Day.

She does not appear to have any immediate plans to withdraw from the series. Considerable time remains before the scheduled broadcast date, and while the lead actress has been tagged with the "pro-Japanese collaborator" label, it remains to be seen what effect, if any, this will have on the show's ratings.

SBS said in an official statement that "a significant portion of Seungsan Itseumnida has already been filmed, and we are not in a position to disclose details about the volume of footage or the specific progress of production." The broadcaster added that it "is aware of the matter and is closely monitoring how the situation develops."

Seungsan Itseumnida is a comedic legal detective series following a law office led by Kwon Baek, a former attorney now working as an office manager, as he steers seemingly hopeless cases to victory through unconventional methods. Lee Je-hoon stars opposite Ha Young.

The series is based on Legal V~Moto Bengoshi Takanashi Shoko~, which aired on Japan's TV Asahi in 2018 with actress Yonekura Ryoko in the lead role. The original follows a protagonist who has lost her law license as she assembles a team of troubled lawyers to run a legal office and take on powerful law firms and figures of authority.

Meanwhile, Ha Young posted a handwritten letter on her social media Tuesday, apologizing to the public and saying she had learned of her great-grandfather's pro-Japanese conduct only after looking into the matter herself following the controversy. "I am deeply sorry for having casually mentioned my family history without properly understanding our country's painful history under Japanese colonial rule," she wrote.

She said she had known only fragments of her great-grandfather's life through stories passed down within the family. "Shamefully, in that state of ignorance, I had brought up my great-grandfather in various settings as if he were a source of family pride," she added.

"I do not believe that my not having known can serve as a reason to turn away from or take lightly that history," she continued. "I accept the weight of those wrongs and sincerely apologize as a descendant. I feel all the more remorseful for causing trouble through my own shortcomings at a time just before Liberation Day."