Actor Ahn Ha-young's great-grandfather Ahn Sang-ho appears in allegations of poisoning Emperor Gojong; confirmed in Gunpo's official historical records

[Financial News] Actor Ahn Ha-young sparked renewed controversy over her family background after introducing her household on television as a "family of four generations of doctors." More recently, an official local history source from Gunpo was confirmed to have described her great-grandfather, doctor Ahn Sang-ho, as a figure who was suspected of poisoning Emperor Gojong at the time of his death.

According to Weekly Kyunghyang, the National Archives of Korea and other repositories hold a document titled "Origins of Place Names and Clan History of Gunpo-si," which introduces Ahn Sang-ho as the first modern-era figure in the section on "People of Gunpo."

The material was published in February 2004 as a research report on local historical sources commissioned by Gunpo from the Institute for Traditional Culture Contents at Kyonggi University. It is also registered in Gyeonggi Memory as an official 264-page publication produced and issued by Gunpo.

In particular, the material describes Ahn Sang-ho's medical career and his work in royal treatment, while also recording the poisoning theory that had been raised in connection with Emperor Gojong's death.
It says that at the time of Emperor Gojong's death in 1919, Ahn Sang-ho and others were suspected of having been ordered by Japanese to administer poison. However, the source does not treat the allegation as fact and adds that it is difficult to judge its authenticity lightly.
The poisoning theory surrounding Emperor Gojong has not been historically confirmed. After his sudden death, rumors spread widely that he had been poisoned by Japan, and the story is said to have had a significant impact on public sentiment ahead of the March 1 Independence Movement.
What stands out is that Gunpo's local history source presents Ahn Sang-ho differently from other regional histories that have discussed him.
A local history book from Anyang-si described Ahn Sang-ho as a figure with a strong anti-Japanese national consciousness. But as controversy recently grew over his pro-Japanese activities, Anyang-si made the related post private on the 11th.
Attention returned to Ahn Sang-ho's past after his great-granddaughter, actor Ahn Ha-young, described her family on television as one with four generations of doctors.
It later emerged that Ahn Sang-ho had been listed as a council member of the Daejeong Friendship Association, a pro-Japanese group organized in Seoul in 1916. The association included businesspeople, officials, journalists, educators, lawyers, and medical professionals, and Yi Wanyong, one of the Five Eulsa Traitors, served as a central figure.
It was also reported that Ahn Sang-ho was among the medical staff who treated Yi Wanyong after independence activist Lee Jae-myeong attacked him and inflicted serious injuries in 1909.
In addition, records of his involvement in a memorial committee for Itō Hirobumi during the Japanese colonial period were cited, and claims were raised that Ahn Sang-ho's wife was the daughter of a senior Japanese military officer who served at the Government-General of Chōsen at the time. It was also confirmed that in the early years of Japanese colonial rule, Ahn Sang-ho secured land measuring several thousand pyeong near railways and roads in Gunpo, Gyeonggi Province.

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