Ha Young returns to filming after tearful break over ancestral controversy, agency requests privacy

Actress Ha Young's agency has issued a fresh update addressing questions about her involvement in an upcoming SBS drama, as the actress works through a controversy tied to her family history.

According to a report published August 20, Ha Young has resumed filming for "The Long Shot Trial," returning to set after taking roughly a week off at the production team's suggestion. The break followed an emotional moment on set on August 13, when she reportedly broke down in tears amid backlash over allegations that her great-grandfather engaged in pro-Japanese activities during Korea's colonial period. She had stepped away from filming for several hours that day before continuing on.

Responding to the latest coverage, her agency BISTUS Entertainment kept its statement brief: "Ha Young is continuing with her previously scheduled filming. We ask for your understanding that it is difficult to provide specific details regarding the schedule or progress separately."

"The Long Shot Trial" is billed as a breezy legal comedy centered on an unpolished team at a small law office. Lee Je Hoon stars as Kwon Baek, a onetime attorney who has taken a step back to manage the office instead, and who, alongside his colleagues, finds creative angles to win cases that look hopeless on paper. The series is slated to debut in 2027 and is currently said to be around 90 percent finished shooting.

The situation has drawn additional scrutiny for reasons beyond the family history controversy itself. "The Long Shot Trial" is adapted from a well-known Japanese series, and its planned February air date lands just before the anniversary of the March 1st Independence Movement, a day commemorating Korea's resistance to Japanese colonial rule — timing that has amplified sensitivities around the show given the allegations surrounding Ha Young's ancestry.

This is not the first public response from Ha Young's camp since the controversy broke. Her agency previously put out an official statement addressing the situation, and Ha Young herself followed up with a handwritten letter of apology directed at fans and viewers.

For now, production appears to be moving forward largely as planned, with the agency signaling that filming continues on its original timeline even as it declines to share further specifics. Whether the controversy will affect the drama's reception once it airs next year remains to be seen, but both the network and the agency appear intent on completing the project as scheduled rather than making further changes to the shoot.