Yu Byung-jae's awkward pause at Ha Young's 'great-grandfather was a doctor' remark draws fresh attention

As controversy over actor Ha Young's great-grandfather's alleged pro-Japanese colonial collaboration continues, a subtle reaction broadcaster Yu Byung-jae showed during a past program — falling silent mid-sentence after hearing about Ha Young's family background — is drawing renewed attention.

The exchange has recently gone viral online, with viewers revisiting Ha Young's remarks and Yu's reaction to them.

The clip originated from a promotional video released Aug. 6 through the Netflix Korea YouTube channel.

The video featured Ha Young and Jung Hae-in, the lead actors of the Netflix drama series "This Messy Thing Called Love," appearing together.

In the video, Yu brought up Ha Young's drama series "Trauma Center" and asked whether her family had a long line of doctors going back generations. Ha Young confirmed it, saying she had heard that her great-grandfather was the first in the family to practice medicine.

Yu then began to respond — "If it was your great-grandfather, then in our country, that would be sort of … " — before trailing off as if lost in thought.

Ha Young went on to describe her family, saying she had heard her great-grandfather was likely the first doctor to open a Western medicine practice in Hanyang. She added that she herself had never considered becoming a doctor and had simply hoped her older sister would work hard at it.

Yu's reaction resurfaced after allegations emerged surrounding Ha Young's great-grandfather, Ahn Sang-ho, and his alleged pro-Japanese activities during the colonial period.

Online commenters offered a range of speculation, with some saying Yu's expression suggested he had privately recognized the pro-Japanese connection, and others saying he appeared to have stopped himself from speaking to avoid stirring controversy. It remains unclear, however, what Yu actually meant by the pause.

Earlier, Ha Young had said on KBS2's "Rooftop Troublemakers" that her family had been a "four-generation medical family." After the broadcast, details about the late Ahn Sang-ho's past came to light, sparking the pro-Japanese collaboration controversy. When it emerged that Ahn had been active in the Daejeong Silleop Chinmok-hoe, a group associated with pro-Japanese activities, Ha Young's representatives initially said the allegations were groundless. As the controversy persisted, Ha Young posted a handwritten apology on her Instagram on Wednesday and bowed her head.