“I will not ask you to believe me. I will prove it.”
Actor Kim Soo-hyun denied the claims from the family of the late Kim Sae-ron that he had been in a relationship with her since she was a minor during a tearful press conference. He asserted that all claims made by the family are newly fabricated lies and stated that he would prove his innocence through a lawsuit seeking 12 billion won in damages.
On the afternoon of the 31st, Kim Soo-hyun held an emergency press conference at the Stanford Hotel in Sangam-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, marking his first official appearance since the controversy arose. He was accompanied by his legal representative, LK Partners.
The family of Kim Sae-ron claimed that she had been in a relationship with Kim Soo-hyun since she was 15 years old for six years, and they have been releasing evidence through the YouTube channel Garoseoro Research Institute (hereafter referred to as Gaseyeon). Initially denying the relationship, Kim Soo-hyun and his agency, Gold Medalist, later changed their stance to acknowledge that they dated for a year after Kim Sae-ron became an adult, but maintained that they never dated while she was a minor.
As Kim Soo-hyun continued to deny the allegations, the family of Kim Sae-ron held a press conference on the 27th through their legal representative, attorney Bu Ji-seok from the law firm Bu-yu, and Kim Se-yi, the representative of Gaseyeon, presenting evidence such as KakaoTalk messages exchanged between the two and handwritten letters from the deceased. The family has consistently claimed that “Kim Sae-ron dated Kim Soo-hyun while she was a minor,” emphasizing the need for a sincere apology from Kim Soo-hyun while warning against the spread of false information.
“I’m sorry,” said Kim Soo-hyun, bowing his head. “It seems that many people are suffering because of me. I feel sorry that the deceased cannot rest in peace,” he expressed, adding, “I consider myself a coward. I think I have always been too focused on protecting what I have. I was afraid of losing something, scared of being harmed, and I ran away and denied it. That’s why it took me a long time to stand here.”
“Every time my and the deceased’s private lives were exposed, I thought, let’s just talk about everything tomorrow, let’s end this hellish situation by speaking directly,” Kim Soo-hyun said, shedding tears. “But I hesitated each time. I wondered how my decision would affect those around me, and if I was the one who caused everything to go wrong.” He recalled a time when the deceased posted a photo of them together during the airing of ‘Queen of Tears.’ “We dated for about a year and a half, four years before ‘Queen of Tears’ aired five years ago. But at that time, I denied the relationship. I understand if you can’t believe what I’m saying about my relationship with the deceased. However, this is the only opportunity I have to speak, so I would appreciate it if you could listen to me just this once.”
Kim Soo-hyun, who denied the dating rumors with Kim Sae-ron during the airing of ‘Queen of Tears,’ stated that he would make the same choice if he could go back to that time. “Right now, I am still very worried and anxious. I wonder what consequences my words will bring,” he said. “If I had admitted it from the beginning for risk management, I wouldn’t have had to face threats every day about what photos would be posted tomorrow or what would be revealed, and I wouldn’t have been humiliated by the leaks about my private life. But I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t accept being forced to acknowledge lies as truth while being threatened.”
Above all, Kim Soo-hyun declared, “I did not date the deceased when she was a minor,” and denied all claims made by the family, stating, “It is also not true that the deceased made a tragic choice because of my rejection or because my agency pressured her regarding her debts.”
“Aside from the fact that we are both actors, the deceased and I were ordinary lovers like anyone else,” Kim Soo-hyun said. “We met with good feelings and eventually broke up after some time. After that, we rarely contacted each other. Like most couples, it was a delicate matter to keep in touch after breaking up. We were both actors whose faces were known to many people, and when the deceased was with my agency, I had some knowledge of how she was doing, which made it even more difficult.” He explained why he could not easily contact her after the deceased was involved in a drunk driving incident.
“I heard from a YouTube channel representing the deceased’s family that the last agency representative said the deceased was struggling because of me during the drunk driving incident,” Kim Soo-hyun said. “However, at that time, I understood that she was dating someone else. In that situation, it was difficult to reach out to her. We were already living our own lives, and I didn’t know what to say.”
Aware that his words might sound like excuses, Kim Soo-hyun stated, “My words may sound like excuses. I sometimes want to remain silent about what people say. I have always received more love than I deserve, but I have also faced many misunderstandings. Things that are not true circulate as if they are facts. I think that is something I have to bear.”
Maintaining that the deceased’s death is unrelated to him, Kim Soo-hyun said, “The deceased’s family claims that I drove her to death because I was her ex-boyfriend. They are also forcing me to confess to things I did not do,” he lamented, breaking down in tears at the point where he was accused of having manipulated the deceased since she was a minor and of having pressured her financially to the point of death, saying, “So you are a murderer.”
Regarding the second notice sent by his agency, Kim Soo-hyun stated, “The agency said that they sent a second notice regarding the debt relationship with the deceased, implying that they pressured her about the debt. However, in a phone call with the agency representative a year ago, they said something completely different,” he explained. “I cannot know if the last agency representative is lying completely differently from what was said in the phone call a year ago. I am willing to admit any wrongdoing. I believe it is natural to take responsibility for what I should be responsible for. However, I cannot say that I did something I did not do. The audio evidence claimed by the family is something newly recorded after the incident was exposed,” he asserted, also presenting the call records he had with the last agency representative as evidence.
Regarding the KakaoTalk messages previously released by the family, Kim Soo-hyun clarified that they were conversations from 2019, not 2016. “There are many incorrect facts that cannot be attributed to the deceased. The photo claimed to be from 2016 was actually from 2019. The deceased could not have made a mistake regarding the age difference between us. Also, the name of the agency we were both with for four years and the contract period cannot be wrong. The deceased only worked as an actor under our agency. There is no fact that she was involved in casting or visual directing as a newcomer,” he raised his voice.
He continued, “The family and the YouTube channel are using statements claiming to be from 2016 as evidence to label me as a pedophile or someone who grooms minors. However, the individuals conversing in the KakaoTalk messages from 2016 and 2018 are different people,” he stated, emphasizing that he submitted the KakaoTalk messages he exchanged with acquaintances in 2016 and 2018 to a verification agency for scientific analysis to prove this fact.
Kim Soo-hyun expressed, “The most painful aspect since the family’s revelations began has been this. Whenever my agency and I present our stance on the family’s evidence, suddenly new recorded testimonies are released. Photos and videos that cleverly change the timeline of the incident, and edited KakaoTalk images instead of originals are presented as evidence. False testimonies and fake evidence continue to be fabricated using the fact that I dated the deceased as a pretext,” he stated firmly. “If the evidence the family possesses is the real truth, I request that they submit all materials to the investigative agency and undergo verification through legal procedures. Even at this moment, there are people I must take responsibility for who are looking only at me. I see those people suffering and collapsing every day,” he asserted with a strong attitude.
“I am afraid of what they will expose and distort today to label me a murderer,” Kim Soo-hyun said. “After this press conference, I cannot predict what fake evidence and false testimonies they will use to defame me and harass those around me,” he added. “What I did is what I did. I can accept any criticism for that. However, what I did not do is what I did not do. For all those who still believe in me, I want to clarify that much. I will not ask you to believe me. I will definitely prove it,” he stated firmly.
Kim Soo-hyun’s legal representative, attorney Kim Jong-bok from LK Partners, explained the absence of a Q&A session, stating, “Kim Soo-hyun and Gold Medalist have decided to file criminal and civil lawsuits against those involved to clarify the facts. We have attached a complaint against the family and an unidentified person who claims to be an aunt, as well as the operators of Gaseyeon, for violations of the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection and defamation. We are pursuing a lawsuit seeking 12 billion won in damages against them,” indicating that the current issue has become a subject of investigation and requires legal judgment.
While Kim Soo-hyun refuted the claims from Kim Sae-ron’s side, he did not comment on the recently emerging claims from the family of the late Sulli, who are demanding an explanation from Kim Soo-hyun regarding a controversial scene in the film ‘Real’ in which the late actress appeared.
[Geum Bit-na, MK Sports Reporter]
