Actor Park Hwan-hee, granddaughter of independence fighter, to throw first pitch on Liberation Day

Actor Park Hwan-hee, the granddaughter of the late independence fighter Ha Jong-jin, will take the mound at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Liberation Day.

LG Twins announced Thursday that ceremonial first pitches will be held across their three-game home series against the SSG Landers at Jamsil Baseball Stadium, running Friday through Sunday.

Park is set to throw the first pitch on Saturday, Liberation Day. She is the granddaughter of Ha Jong-jin, who played a leading role in the anti-Japanese independence movement during the colonial period.

Ha distributed Taegeukgi flags and campaigned for independence during the March 1st Movement of 1919 in Hamyang, South Gyeongsang Province. He later led a solidarity strike at Daegu High Common School in protest against ethnic discrimination and was imprisoned at Seodaemun Prison in 1923 after organizing a strike at the Gyeongseong Tram Company.

In 1925, he formed a secret organization called the Jinwoo League with fellow activists and was arrested after laying plans to obtain explosives from Shanghai and bomb key government offices in Daegu.

In recognition of his contributions, the government posthumously awarded him the Order of Merit for National Foundation — Patriotic Class in 1990.

Park has consistently taken part in state commemorations marking Liberation Day and the March 1st Movement as a descendant of an independence fighter.

In 2018, she attended the ceremony marking the 73rd Liberation Day and the 70th anniversary of the founding of the South Korean government, where she raised the Taegeukgi and recited a pledge. The following year, she participated as a descendant of an independence patriot in "100 Years of Spring," an eve-of-anniversary event co-hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and KBS to mark the centennial of the March 1st Movement and the establishment of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea.

In a past television appearance, Park recalled that she never met her grandfather in person because her mother passed away when she was young, but said she had heard that "he distributed Taegeukgi flags, fought against Japanese rule, and was imprisoned at Seodaemun Prison."

Ahead of Saturday's ceremony, Park said she was "honored to stand on the mound on such a meaningful Liberation Day" and expressed gratitude for "the freedom we enjoy today, made possible by my grandfather and all the other independence fighters."

Park made her acting debut in the 2015 drama series "Who Are You: School 2015" and went on to appear in numerous productions, including "Descendants of the Sun" and "Jealousy Incarnate."