A lawyer hired by the family of late K-drama actress Kim Sae-ron held a press conference on Thursday (Mar 27) to show proof that she and actor Kim Soo-hyun began a relationship when the actress was a minor.
Kim Soo-hyun, best known for his roles in Korean dramas such as It’s Okay To Not Be Okay and Queen Of Tears, is at the centre of an alleged underage dating scandal involving the late actress Kim Sae-ron, who died on Feb 16 this year at the age of 24. Her death was ruled a suicide.
The Queen Of Tears actor was initially accused of starting a relationship with Kim Sae-ron when she was only 15. He denied the allegations and released a statement on Mar 14 to say that they only began a relationship when she was 19 and that they had dated for a little over a year.
Korea JoongAng Daily reported that at the Thursday press conference in southern Seoul, YouTube channel Hoverlab – which first broke the news of the scandal – and the lawyer presented screenshots of KakaoTalk chats between the two actors that were said to have taken place in June 2016 – when he was 28 and she was 15 – that they said proved that Kim Soo-hyun “either dated or sexually groomed Kim Sae-ron”.
Among the messages that were shown was one where Kim Soo-hyun told Kim Sae-ron that he missed her as well as one where she had sent him a heart emoji and a word mimicking a kiss, to which he replied, “Do it for real later haha”.
Another exchange had Kim Soo-hyun saying, “When can I fall asleep with you in my arms? I’ll really get a good night’s sleep then.” After the pair exchanged messages about how many years it would be until that happened, Kim Sae-ron replied, “I’ll do it when I want to”.
Hoverlab and Bu Ji-seok, the lawyer representing Kim Sae-ron’s family, promised to stop everything if Kim Soo-hyun apologises. Bu later added: “An apology only works if the person truly asks for forgiveness and the recipient can truly feel that the person is sorry.”
Kim Sae-ron was found dead at her home on Feb 16 – which happened to be Kim Soo-hyun’s birthday. Her death came years after she was involved in a drunk driving incident in 2022 which saw her career take a hit.
On Mar 10, South Korean YouTube channel Garosero Research Institute, also known as Hoverlab, uploaded a video that alleged that Kim Soo-hyun was in a six-year-long relationship with the late actress and that the relationship had started when she was 15 and he was 27 and ended in 2021.
Kim Soo-hyun’s agency Gold Medalist denied the claims in a statement the same day and added that they would be filing a lawsuit against the channel.
However, in the days that followed, Garosero Research Institute released more images of Kim Soo-hyun and Kim Sae-ron, with some that show the former kissing the latter on the cheek. According to the channel, some of these photos were taken when the late actress was still in middle school.
