Kim Soo Hyun‘s side, to the late Kim Sae Ron’s mother, “Public controversy is inappropriate, please contact us” [Full text]

Actor Kim Soo Hyun‘s side has made a new statement. They appealed to YouTube’s ‘Garosero Research Institute’ (hereafter ‘Ga Se Yeon’) to stop leaking their private lives and requested a conversation with the late Kim Sae Ron‘s mother.

On the 14th, ‘Ga Se Yeon’ released additional photos of the late Kim Sae Ron and Kim Soo Hyun. These were new photos, following the kissing selfie, letters Kim Soo Hyun sent during his military service, and postcards sent from Paris.

Previously, on the 10th, the bereaved family claimed through ‘Ga Se Yeon’ that they dated from November 19, 2015, when the late Kim Sae Ron was a minor, 15 years old, to July 7, 2021. Kim Soo-hyun’s side denied the relationship itself, but on the 13th, they admitted to dating from the summer of 2019 to the fall of 2020, after the late Kim Sae-ron became an adult, emphasizing, “It is not true that I dated Kim Sae-ron when she was a minor.”


On the 14th, the late Kim Sae-ron‘s mother appealed to ‘Ga Se-yeon’, saying that this was to restore the late Kim Sae-ron’s reputation, “Sae-ron has never lied to the media. She did not enjoy gambling without reflecting on herself, she never cosplayed as a part-time worker by lying, and she was not a child who only enjoyed nightlife with friends. She did not create dating rumors with the manipulated photos (with Kim Soo-hyun).”

She said, “YouTuber A and cyber wreckers created false articles and dragged an ordinary and promising actress‘s daily life and family into hell. The gold medalist slammed the photo posted by Saeron as a crazy girl who lied and said, ”I don’t know her intentions.“ Now that Sae-ron is no longer around, false articles that are not worth reading or seeing are being created, such as “She was the head of the household” and “Her family squandered the hundreds of billions she earned and sucked her blood,” she pointed out.

The mother confessed that the late Kim Sae-ron had a hard time with false articles and insulting personal attacks while she was alive, and asserted, “The bereaved family only hopes that Sae-ron, who we will never see again, can fully recover the honor she had as an actress while she was alive, and that legal and institutional measures will be put in place so that the media can fulfill their calling and responsibility so that this kind of thing never happens again.”

They then proposed a peaceful dialogue to the late Kim Sae-ron‘s mother. They said, “We have also confirmed the position of Kim Sae-ron’s mother, which was revealed through the broadcast that day. We feel that no words are enough to comfort her as she is suffering from indescribable pain after losing Kim Sae-ron. We feel deep sorrow for the pain the deceased had to go through and express our regrets.”We also deeply sympathize with the parts that the mother pointed out about various reporting behaviors regarding the deceased. Kim Soo Hyun also said, “As stated in our company’s recent statement, he has suffered damage due to Ga Se Yeon’s report.”

In addition, “However, it seems that there are some parts of what your mother says that we have different thoughts on. We also believe that there may be things that you were not aware of yet. We believe that publicly arguing about right and wrong is inappropriate for both your mother, who was trying to find a way to restore the deceased’s honor, and the deceased. We would like our management to meet your mother together and provide a sufficient explanation. Please contact the Gold Medalist office at any time and we would be grateful.”

Meanwhile, Kim Sae Ron was found dead at her home in Seongdong-gu, Seoul on February 16, which was Kim Soo Hyun’s birthday. She was 25 years old. The deceased had suspended activities since her drunk driving accident in May 2022 and had attempted to return several times but failed. It has been reported that the approximately 1.1 billion won in liquidated damages incurred from the accident were treated as bad debts by their agency, Gold Medalist.

When Gold Medalist sent a certified letter worth 700 million won, Kim Sae-ron sent a message to Kim Soo-hyun complaining about her financial difficulties and asking for more time. Regarding this, Gold Medalist stated, ”If we treat that amount as bad debts without any debt collection efforts, it would be equivalent to our company unilaterally waiving Kim Sae-ron‘s debt, which would cause a loss for our company, and this was also because we were concerned that our executives were dereliction of duty,“ and ”We had to prove that at the time, Kim Sae-ron was in a state of ’uncollectible‘ debt where she had no ability to repay the amount. It had to be confirmed that efforts had been made to secure our company’s claims against Kim Sae-ron. In order to proceed with the compensation process for Kim Sae-ron, we had to send a certified letter and prove that we did not arbitrarily give up our debts to Kim Sae-ron,” he explained.



Full text statement from Kim Soo-hyun’s agency

Hello. This is Gold Medalist.

We would like to send you our position on the content reported on the Garosero Research Institute (hereafter referred to as Gaseyeon) YouTube channel on March 14.

The photos released by Gaseyeon were taken on December 14, 2019. There is no reason why photos containing the private lives of Mr. Kim Soo-hyun and the deceased should be indiscriminately released. We ask that you stop spreading personal information.

We have also confirmed the position of Kim Sae-ron’s mother, which was revealed through the broadcast that day. I feel that no words can comfort my mother who has suffered indescribable pain since losing Kim Sae-ron. I feel deep sorrow for the pain the deceased had to endure and express my regret.

I also deeply sympathize with the parts that my mother pointed out regarding the various reporting behaviors regarding the deceased. As our company recently stated in its statement, Kim Soo-hyun has also suffered damage due to Ga Se-yeon’s reporting.

However, I think there are some parts of my mother’s claims that we disagree with. I also think that there are things that she may not have known yet. I think that publicly arguing about right and wrong is inappropriate for both my mother, who was trying to find a way to restore the deceased’s honor, and the deceased. I would like to have our management meet with my mother and provide a full explanation. Please feel free to contact the Gold Medalist office at any time.

Jeong Hee-yeon, Donga.com reporter shine2562@donga.com

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.