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Kim Soo Hyun cries at press con, denies dating Kim Sae Ron when she was a minor, ends without taking questions
He also denied he or his agency had played a role in Kim Sae Ron's death.
March 31, 2025, 08:20 PM
Warning: This article contains content that some may find disturbing. Audience discretion is advised.
After being embroiled in controversy for almost a month, South Korean actor Kim Soo Hyun, 37, finally came forward to address allegations of dating late actress Kim Sae Ron when she was still a minor.
At a press conference held at Stanford Hotel in Seoul on Mar. 31, a tearful Kim Soo Hyun apologised for "causing so much pain to many people", reported Korea Joongang Daily.
He admitted to dating Kim Sae Ron for a year but denied they dated when she was still underage, reiterating the response issued by his agency, Gold Medalist, when the controversy first broke.
The actor also refuted the accusations that Gold Medalist had pressured Kim Sae Ron into taking her own life on his birthday in February 2025 by forcing her to repay a 700 million won (S$638,670) debt.
Together with his counsel, Kim Soo Hyun announced that they had filed a 12 billion won (S$10.94 million) lawsuit against those who had allegedly defamed him, including Kim Sae Ron's family, reported Yonhap News Agency.
The pair ended the press conference without taking any questions from journalists, citing ongoing court proceedings.
Allegedly dated Kim Sae Ron in 2020
According to a timeline provided by the actor, he and Kim Sae Ron dated four years before the premiere of the television series "Queen of Tears" in 2024, which starred Kim Soo Hyun as the male lead.
If true, this means that Kim Sae Ron, who was born in 2000, was already a 20-year-old adult at the time of their relationship.
Additionally, Kim Soo Hyun also claimed that a recent piece of evidence produced by Kim Sae Ron's family, which allegedly proved he had dated her when she was a minor, contained "basic errors".
The evidence in question was a screenshot allegedly showing messages between Kim Soo Hyun and Kim Sae Ron on social media in 2016 and 2018.
According to Kim Soo Hyun, one of the "basic errors" was Kim Sae Ron's statement that their age gap was 15, when it was actually 12.
He also claimed that the messages had been doctored and that an analysis conducted by "an authoritative agency" had found that the conversations did not involve the same parties throughout.
If the pieces of evidence produced by Kim Sae Ron's family were indeed genuine, Kim Soo Hyun said they should send them to investigative agencies for verification.
Neither he nor his agency played a role in Kim Sae Ron's death
Additionally, Kim Soo Hyun denied that he played a role in Kim Sae Ron's death by turning away from her after she ran into debts to Gold Medalist, her former agency, over cancelled projects following her drunk-driving incident.
He further claimed that Gold Medalist did not pressure Kim Sae Ron and that the agency was only following "an administrative procedure" when calling Kim Sae Ron's last agency about the owed sum.
To support his claims, Kim Soo Hyun also played a phone call at the press conference, which allegedly took place between the former chief executive of Gold Medalist and the chief executive of Management Run.
In the phone call, which was described by Korea JoongAng Daily as "cordial", Gold Medalist chief executive was heard saying, "If I don't follow these procedures, it's a breach of duty".
Top images via 연합뉴스TV/YouTube
