'Is my family on the list?' Ha Young controversy sparks spread of 'pro-Japanese collaborator scanner'

A controversy over the pro-Japanese colonial-era activities of actor Ha Young's (born Ahn Ha-young) great-grandfather has sparked a surge of interest in websites that let users trace their family roots by searching their clan name and ancestral seat.

According to IT industry sources and online communities, a tool called the "pro-Japanese collaborator scanner," built by an independent developer, has been spreading rapidly on social media in recent days.

The site lets users enter their surname and ancestral seat — such as "Gimhae Kim" or "Jeonju Lee" — and displays side by side the names of independence movement patriots and pro-Japanese collaborators who share that lineage.

The database draws on publicly available records: merit information on 19,059 independence movement patriots from the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans' e-archive of distinguished service, the Korean Independence Movement Biographical Dictionary published by the Independence Hall of Korea, and the list of 1,006 pro-Japanese collaborators determined by the Committee for the Inspection of Collaboration for Japanese Imperialism. Clan seat data from Wikidata and Wikipedia is used to generate the results.

Searching "Sunheung Ahn" — Ha Young's own clan seat — returns 25 independence movement patriots, among them Ahn Chang-ho and Ahn Jung-geun, alongside three individuals listed as pro-Japanese collaborators: Ahn Sang-ho, identified as Ha Young's great-grandfather; Ahn Seok-ju; and Ahn Eak-tai, who composed the Korean national anthem.

A separate genealogy site called "Finding Your Roots," which provides information on surnames and ancestral seats, also drew a flood of visitors. The site lets users look up the origins, history and notable figures associated with their clan, but the sudden spike in traffic temporarily caused access problems.

According to Naver DataLab, searches for "ancestor search" on Thursday were up 50 times compared with the same period last year, while searches for "pro-Japanese biographical dictionary" also rose sharply.

Users have been sharing their own search results online. Many posted their findings on social media with comments such as "I searched with my heart pounding — thankfully there were no pro-Japanese figures" and "It was bittersweet, but it became an opportunity to learn the historical facts."

The surge in genealogy interest is widely attributed to the recent controversy surrounding Ha Young's family history.

Earlier this month, Ha Young appeared on the KBS2 program "Okdapbang-ui Munje-a," a TV quiz show, and introduced herself as coming from a "four-generation family of doctors," with her great-grandfather, grandfather, father and older sister all having practiced medicine. It later emerged that her great-grandfather was physician Ahn Sang-ho, who had served as a council member of the Daejeong Chinmok-hoe, a "fraternal association" that operated as a pro-Japanese organization during the colonial period, triggering a public backlash.

Ha Young's agency initially issued a statement disputing the allegations, but Ha Young subsequently posted a handwritten apology, saying she had "carelessly mentioned her family history without properly knowing the history."

Caution is warranted, however: sharing a surname and ancestral seat with a historical figure does not establish a direct blood relationship. The creators of the "pro-Japanese collaborator scanner" note on the site that the same clan seat does not imply direct lineage, and that a single ancestral seat can encompass hundreds of thousands of members.

The developers also warn against holding descendants personally responsible for their ancestors' actions, stating on the site that "in accordance with the constitutional prohibition on guilt by association, an ancestor's past conduct does not translate into legal or moral responsibility for individual descendants."