Broadcaster Lee Hye-seong is facing sharp backlash after citing actress Ha Young’s pro-Japanese ancestor controversy as a philosophical case study in a new YouTube video about justice.
According to Sports Kyunghyang, Lee uploaded the video on October 20, titled “Is the society we live in now just? | What is justice,” built around Michael Sandel’s book “Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do?” She said: “Recently, there was controversy after a public figure’s great-grandfather’s pro-Japanese acts during the Japanese colonial era were revealed” — an indirect reference to Ha Young.
Lee posed questions including “Should we atone for the sins of our ancestors?” and whether today’s wealth and status are fairly distributed. Citing libertarian philosopher Robert Nozick’s entitlement theory, she said unjustly accumulated wealth needs correcting, and quoted philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre: “Like it or not, we are born embracing everything our ancestors did.”
But some viewers said using Ha Young as a philosophical starting point was inappropriate. “The issue wasn’t just that she had a pro-Japanese ancestor. People were angry because she claimed not to have known while boasting about the record,” one commenter wrote, referring to Ha Young’s August appearance on KBS2’s “Problem Child in House,” where she introduced her family as a “fourth-generation family of doctors.” Ha Young first denied the claims, then apologized as evidence mounted, and has since halted activities.
Lee has issued no further comment. The fallout continues: on October 19, SBS dropped Ha Young’s completed drama “Seungsan Isseumnida” from its first-half 2027 lineup.
