Ha Young (actress)

Ahn was born on August 11, 1993, in Seoul, South Korea.^[1] She comes from a family of four generations of physicians. Her great-grandfather, Ahn Sang-ho [ko], opened the first hospital in Seoul under Emperor Gojong's rule.^[2] Her grandfather, Ahn Boo-ho, was a medical officer and professor who worked at Sorokdo National Hospital in the late 1940s and early 1950s.^[3] Her father and older sister are physicians as well.^[4]

Ahn majored in Western painting at Ewha Womans University and went on to graduate school at the School of Visual Arts in New York in 2016 to prepare for her master's degree; she took a leave of absence after one year to pursue an acting career.^[5]

After joining Bistus Entertainment and modelling for various brands, Ahn made her screen debut in the 2019 series Doctor Prisoner as Na Yi-hyeon, the protagonist's younger sister.^[6]

In an August 7, 2026, appearance on Korean Broadcasting System's Problem Child in House, Ahn reportedly spoke "proudly" of her family's history in medicine and mentioned the achievements of her great-grandfather without naming him. Speculation began circulating online that her great-grandfather was Ahn Sang-ho, who has been described as a collaborator with Japanese imperial rule. He was a leader of a pro-Japanese Korean group and was used in the propaganda newspaper Maeil sinbo as an example of a Korean who had assimilated to become "indistinguishable from a Japanese person".^[7] Bistus Entertainment initially dismissed the speculation but later retracted the statement and apologized while acknowledging the familial tie. Ahn issued a personal apology, saying that she "only partially known about her great-grandfather's life through stories told by her family".^[3][8]

Ahn's grandfather, Ahn Boo-ho, was also brought up as during his time at Sorokdo National Hospital, serious human rights abuses were inflicted against Hansen's disease patients although there were no evidence of Ahn's involvement.^[3]

The Ahn family's wealth was scrutinised during an August 21 meeting of the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee, where lawmaker Park Eun-jung of the Rebuilding Korea Party raised the issue of the land previously owned by Ahn Sang-ho as he was a large landowner who accumulated his wealth during the Japanese occupation. Park also queried whether this falls under the Special Law to Redeem Pro-Japanese Collaborators' Property as Ahn Sang-ho was not officially listed as a pro-Japanese collaborator. In response, Vice Minister of Justice Lee Jin-soo said that the revived Investigative Commission on Pro-Japanese Collaborators' Property has been formed and is set to be launched in December.^[9][10]