K-drama actor Kim Soo-hyun on Monday broke down in tears while addressing the raging controversy surrounding his alleged relationship with the late actress Kim Sae-ron, who died by suicide at the age of 24 on February 16.
Soo-hyun, who was accused by Sae-ron’s family of dating her when she was a minor, dismissed the allegations in his first official statement regarding the controversy on Monday.
“I did not date (Kim Sae-ron) when she was a minor… Except for the fact that both of us were actors, our relationship was just like that of any other ordinary couple,” Soo-hyun said.
Soo-hyun was also criticised by netizens for his alleged involvement in putting pressure on the late actress to repay money to his agency Gold Medalist in 2023.
According to media reports, Sae-ron received a legal notice from Soo-hyun’s agency Gold Medalist in 2023 demanding payment for damages caused by her in connection with a drink-driving case of 2022.
Denying all such charges, Soo-hyun said, “And it is not true that she had made this tragic choice because of me or my agency pressuring her over a debt.”
“Her family, just because I am the ex-boyfriend of the late actress, is asserting that I pushed her to death. They are demanding me to confess to something that I didn't do. (They said) you played with her even from when she was a minor. You threatened her with money. So you are a murderer,” the actor said, breaking down in tears.
The 37-year-old actor also expressed his anguish over the alleged false testimony given by Sae-ron’s family, whom he accused of leaking a recorded phone call between the former CEO of Gold Medalist and the CEO of Kim Sae-ron’s agency Management Run.
The phone call recording that Kim Sae-ron’s family shared with a YouTube channel was of a different conversation, Soo-hyun said.
Addressing the allegations made by the late actor’s family, Kim Soo-hyun highlighted that they publicly shared KakaoTalk conversations from 2016. He clarified that the leaked chats from 2016 and 2018 were not of them.
To substantiate his claim, the actor has requested an analysis of the KakaoTalk chats from 2016 to 2018. KakaoTalk is a WhatsApp-like texting platform in South Korea.
Soo-hyun said, “If all the evidence the family holds is true, I hope they can be verified legally after a thorough investigation. I have people that I am responsible for. I am seeing them in pain and agony every day. I am scared what they will reveal today and distort to make me a killer.”
Previously, the Garosero Research Institute, a South Korean YouTube channel, dropped a video where Sae-ron’s aunt claimed that Soo-hyun dated Sae-ron for five years and they broke up after the actress’s drink-driving incident in 2022.
Later, the channel also dropped a video alleging that the actress’s debt dispute with her previous agency, Gold Medalist, which also manages actor Kim Soo-hyun, may have been the reason behind her untimely passing.
Kim Sae-ron, who gained popularity as a child actor, passed away on February 16, which coincidentally is Soo-hyun’s birthday. According to police reports, 24-year-old Sae-ron was found dead at her residence. Police said Kim’s death was a suicide.