'Our family's assets were confiscated': Announcer Kwak Min-seon, great-granddaughter of independence activist, speaks out amid actor Ha Young's ancestor controversy

Kwak Min-seon, an announcer and great-granddaughter of independence activist Kwak Byeong-do, said she felt "heartbroken" over the controversy surrounding actor Ha Young's great-grandfather, who has been accused of collaborating with Japanese colonial rule.

On Friday, Kwak wrote on her SNS that she was left "heartbroken and hollow" after hearing that someone on a recent broadcast had spoken proudly of their great-grandfather.

"As I grew up, I came to understand how hard life has been for the descendants of independence activists and patriots," she wrote. "My great-grandfather spent his entire fortune on military funds for the independence movement and was eventually imprisoned. After that, the rest of the family had their remaining assets confiscated and endured constant surveillance and persecution by the Japanese colonial authorities."

She added that she had sometimes wondered, even briefly, why her grandparents had been so poor and had felt like a burden to her father. "I felt guilty for having felt differently from her, and I cried for a long time," she wrote.

Kwak went on to say that her father had done everything he could to keep poverty from being passed down to his two daughters, and that she and her sister had been fortunate enough to grow up happy and loved. "But I know that the life I enjoy today was not simply given to me," she added.

"With Liberation Day approaching, I feel a sadness and guilt unlike any other year," she wrote, adding that she was particularly ashamed of her past self for having harbored what she called a misplaced sense of shame.

She then said she wanted to live with the ideals her ancestors fought to protect deeply engraved in her heart, and expressed gratitude to all those who sacrificed and devoted themselves to Korea's independence.

Kwak's great-grandfather, independence activist Kwak Byeong-do, organized military fundraising activities for the independence movement across Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and the Chungcheong region. From 1919, he served as a special envoy for the Joseon 13 Provinces General Headquarters, continuing his fundraising efforts. In recognition of his contributions, the government posthumously awarded him the Order of Merit for National Foundation — Patriotic Class in 2000.