Kang Dong Won Dissed For Pro-Japanese Family History Cover Up

Actor Kang Dong Won's family history has gained traction again as South Koreans celebrated their Independence Movement Day on Wednesday. Enraged netizens claim they're not attacking the actor "for being an offspring of Chinilpa" but for "speaking high" of his great-grandfather who was a Chinilpa. Moreover, they're pissed that the actor and his new management label YG Entertainment are threatening legal actions in a bid to cover up the issue.

Kang Dong Won took pride in his great-grandfather during an interview with Chosun Ilbo in 2007 when he described him as "amazing" and stated his title "the CEO of Daedong Industrial Company." The actor's statements went viral and consequently earned criticisms among netizens.

Some, however, gave Kang Dong Won the benefit of a doubt that he may not be aware of his great-grandfather's pro-Japanese history after all. The actor's great-grandfather Lee Jong Man is listed as a member of Chinilpa, a group of pro-Japanese Koreans who collaborated with the invaders when they occupied South Korea. Lee Jong Man is said to have gone so far as to have financially led the way for the infamous comfort women and took off immense wealth from his pro-Japanese collusion.

The issue came up again after the Korean movie portal site Max Movie released just in time for the celebration of the March 1st Movement a list of celebrities with Chinilpa family members to which Kang Dong Won's name appeared not surprisingly. A netizen revealed that the actor's representative, probably from YG Entertainment, emailed her and issued legal warnings for "defamation of character" after she shared the article on a blog. The online community was stirred into furor as a result. "If he didn't know then he should've apologized for his ignorance. It's a problem that he's stirring up anger by threatening legal action for defamation of character," commented an enraged netizen, as reported by allkpop.