Hayoung's great-grandfather pro-Japanese controversy... Increase in users searching 'Pro-Japanese Scanner' for clan search

Recently, amid the controversy over actor Ha-young’s great-grandfather Ahn Sang-ho’s pro-Japanese activities, a website called ″Pro-Japanese Scanner,″ which allows users to enter their surname and bon-gwan (clan origin) to check for independence activists and pro-Japanese collaborators from the same bon-gwan, has been gaining attention online. This site was created by an individual developer and operates by showing a list of independence activists and pro-Japanese collaborators who share the entered bon-gwan side by side. The search results are presented in image card format, making them easy to share on social media. The database is built based on the list of 19,059 independence activists from the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs’ Electronic Records of Meritorious Persons, 1,006 pro-Japanese collaborators confirmed by the Committee for the Investigation of Pro-Japanese and Anti-National Acts, and bon-gwan information cross-verified with Wikidata and Wikipedia. When searching for Ha-young’s bon-gwan, ″Sunheung Ahn,″ 25 independence activists including Dosan Ahn Chang-ho and Ahn Jung-geun appear alongside three pro-Japanese collaborators: Ha-young’s great-grandfather Ahn Sang-ho, Ahn Seok-ju, and the composer of the national anthem Ahn Ik-tae. The emergence of this service coincides with the controversy sparked after Ha-young revealed on a broadcast that she comes from a family of doctors spanning four generations, and it was subsequently revealed that her great-grandfather Ahn Sang-ho was a council member of the Daejeong Friendship Association during the Japanese colonial period. Ha-young disclosed her family history on a broadcast on the 7th, and after her great-grandfather’s pro-Japanese activities were revealed, her agency, Visters Entertainment, initially denied the allegations but later confirmed that Ahn Sang-ho’s name was indeed on the 1916 list of council members of the Daejeong Friendship Association and issued an apology. Ha-young also posted a handwritten apology on social media, stating, ″I only knew fragments of my great-grandfather’s life through family stories,″ and ″I spoke carelessly about my family history without properly understanding the history.″ Following this, an online movement spread where users searched their own surnames and bon-gwan to check lists of independence activists and pro-Japanese collaborators and shared the results on social media. Users reacted with comments such as, ″I searched anxiously, but thankfully no pro-Japanese figures appeared,″ and ″I didn’t know there were so many independence activists.″ On the other hand, when pro-Japanese collaborators appeared in the search, various opinions were expressed, including ″There are four pro-Japanese figures showing up.″ Meanwhile, the Pro-Japanese Scanner team emphasizes in a notice that sharing the same bon-gwan does not mean the individuals found are the user’s direct ancestors, and that the actions of historical figures do not translate into legal or moral responsibility for their descendants. Additionally, other genealogy services such as RootsClick’s ″Finding Roots,″ a specialized genealogy site operating since 1997, have recently seen a surge in users and interest. This site provides various data including the origins, founders, and population statistics of 287 surnames by bon-gwan.