Actress Ha Young Faces Renewed Scrutiny as Grandfather's Controversial Past at Sorokdo Hospital Resurfaces

Korean actress Ha Young (하영) is once again facing controversy over her family background. After previously revealing she comes from a family with “four consecutive generations of doctors,” netizens began unearthing her family history. This led to revelations about her great-grandfather being identified as a pro-Japanese historical figure, and now, her grandfather’s past has also come to light, sparking a new wave of criticism.

Netizens recently discovered that Ha Young is the great-granddaughter of Ahn Sang-ho (안상호), a controversial pro-Japanese historical figure. Following these revelations, online users delved deeper into Ha Young’s family background, uncovering her grandfather Ahn Bu-ho’s (안부호) connection to Korea’s Sorokdo National Hospital (소록도국립병원).

Ha Young’s agency recently confirmed that her grandfather, Ahn Bu-ho, previously served as a professor and department head at the Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine. However, netizens further discovered that he was involved in Hansen’s disease research at Sorokdo Hospital between 1949 and 1954.

Sorokdo National Hospital has a documented history of severe human rights abuses, where patients with Hansen’s disease endured inhumane treatment, including forced sterilization, forced abortions, and forced labor. A 2005 report by the National Human Rights Commission of Korea revealed that between 1949 and 1958, the hospital performed 1,191 vasectomies on patients. At the time, regulations even stipulated that couples could only live together after the male underwent a vasectomy.

Furthermore, reports indicated that patients were allegedly subjected to controversial medical experiments. For instance, some had needles inserted into their chests to extract bone marrow samples, a process described as extremely painful. Some patients reportedly saw their health rapidly deteriorate and even died after these experiments.

Even more shockingly, some patient bodies were used for dissection practice without the consent of their families. These dissections continued into the 1960s, while forced abortions and sterilizations persisted until the 1980s.

Notably, effective treatments for Hansen’s disease were available as early as the 1940s, yet the human rights abuses at Sorokdo Hospital continued for decades, marking a controversial and dark chapter in Korean history.

Currently, there is no evidence to suggest that Ahn Bu-ho directly participated in these human rights violations. However, his tenure at the hospital, where he was listed in hospital records as the “Head of Medical Department at Sorokdo National Rehabilitation Center,” has led to public questioning. Netizens are asking whether he could have been completely unaware while holding such a position.

With her grandfather’s past now revealed, Ha Young’s family background has once again become a hot topic online, subjecting her to increased public pressure. One netizen harshly criticized, “This is truly a demonic family.”

Others expressed discomfort with the family’s long-enjoyed wealth, suggesting that Ha Young now appears to be paying the price for her ancestors’ past actions. “Even if the individuals involved were not punished in their lifetime, the harm caused can still extend to future generations,” one comment read. Another netizen sarcastically remarked, “It’s truly shameless to flaunt their accumulated family wealth.”

Ha Young had previously issued a public apology regarding her family’s historical controversies. In a written apology, she admitted to not being fully aware of her family’s history and expressed remorse to the public. However, before the apology could fully quell the controversy, netizens unearthed related posts allegedly made by a relative, once again plunging her into a new wave of public criticism.