Trigger warning for suicide and underage SA.
It has been over two weeks since I first posted about the biggest scandal in the Korean entertainment industry in recent memory involving Kim Soo-hyun, the highest paid actor in Korea, and the late Kim Sae-ron, who died by suicide on February 16, his birthday.
As I’ve mentioned here at LaineyGossip and also at our Substack The Squawk, there have been new developments almost every day as Sae-ron’s family has been working with a YouTube channel to release text messages, photos, and videos that she kept in her phone or hard drive. This steady stream of information has been shared all over Korean social media, challenging Kim Soo-hyun’s previously held reputation: talented, professional, respectable… wholesome to the point of corny. FFS his favourite hobby was known to be bowling (!!!). And now?
The accusation is that Kim Soo-hyun was grooming Kim Sae-ron from the time she was 15 and he was 27, and callously cut her out of his life during her darkest times. He’d previously released a denial through his agency after the claims first surfaced about three weeks ago. Then yesterday his agency announced that Soo-hyun would give a statement at a press conference alongside his lawyer but that he would not be taking questions from the media. That press conference took place today in Seoul – and the scandal is now global. Media outlets from around the world are finally covering the story, from the BBC to Variety to The Hollywood Reporter and more. Because, unfortunately, the spectacle has become too big to ignore – the spectacle being the surreal sight of one of the biggest stars in Korea, whose most recent series aired on Netflix and became the most-watched K-drama of 2024, presenting himself in front of the media, pleading his case and crying. Here’s the full video below, it’s over 20 minutes but you can scrub through if you’re able to stomach it and see all of his tears.
@kdramaswatcherFULL PRESS CONFERENCE OF KIM SOO HYUN. Honestly, I didn’t believe a word of it. 🤷ðŸ½â€â™€ï¸ Still waiting on Stephanie’s video tbh. #justiceforkimsaeron #kimsaeron #kimsoohyun #kdiddy #kdramaswatcher #rottenmango #stephaniesoo
Some people are calling this a performance – because, frankly, it’s hard to distinguish between his behaviour today and many of the most well-known scenes in his dramas. Like, I’ve watched almost all of them, and his signature is crying; his last hit show was literally called Queen of Tears, and he did more crying in it than the female lead. If you isolate any of these moments from today’s press conference, without context, you could convince someone that this was from a scripted show and not real life.
As for what he’s saying, in short – he continues to deny that he groomed Kim Sae-ron, insisting that she was an adult when they “dated” for a year. He’s also accusing Sae-ron’s family and the YouTube Channel, Hoverlab, aka Garo Sero, of doctoring the text messages and photos that have been released to the public, claiming his agency hired some kind of tech firm to do digital forensics on the assets. And at one point he played an audio recording of a conversation that allegedly took place between his agency and Sae-ron’s representatives last year to prove that they weren’t forcing her to pay back any money, which is what her family is claiming led to all her distress.
Basically it was a lot of “I” statements and presenting himself as the victim of a smear campaign. There’s now been a lawsuit filed against members of Sae-ron’s family and the YouTube channel for US$8 million. That YouTube channel, however, isn’t backing down. Following the press conference they posted even more videos and photos of Kim Soo-hyun with Kim Sae-ron from when she was still underage.
In addition to all this chaos, some of Soo-hyuns fans sent support trucks with messages of encouragement stationed outside the press conference calling for an end to what they say is “cyberbullying”. I mention this because this was one of the objectives of his teary statement – to raise sympathy and also doubt about all the accusations that have been mounting against him.
He can say whatever he wants, argue about doctored photos and whatever, but his timeline is still a gross timeline! There are letters that Kim Soo-hyun wrote to Kim Sae-ron when he was serving military duty between October 2017 and July 2019. Sae-ron would have been 17 years old when he started his service. He’s saying that he and Sae-ron dated between 2019 and 2020. So he went in while she was a minor, writing to her from the army, and pretty much the minute he was discharged, he started “dating” her. Dude, that is still sus AF even if that’s the actual timeline (which I personally find hard to believe). Also that … is exactly what grooming is!
As global as this scandal has become though, they’re still not capturing all the f-cked up angles of this mess. Because Kim Sae-ron isn’t the only deceased young woman involved here. Back in 2017, Kim Soo-hyun acted in and produced a film called Real. His co-star in the movie was an idol called Sulli. Sulli appeared nude in the film and was relentlessly bullied online in Korea for it. Sulli died by suicide in 2019 at the age of 25, and there have been ongoing suggestions by his family that she was coerced into filming those scenes, unprotected by Kim Soo-hyun in the aftermath, and so traumatised by the experience that she could never recover. Her brother has been active on social media over the last couple of weeks and her family is demanding answers about her treatment on that project. All of this is happening concurrently alongside the allegations about Kim Soo-hyun’s involvement with Kim Sae-ron. There is a stink around this man and his tears today were an attempt to wash it away.
