Gold Medalist, the agency representing South Korean actor Kim Soo-hyun, has released a lengthy statement addressing the swirling controversy over his alleged past relationship with the late actress Kim Sae-ron. The statement, issued on 14 March, comes amid mounting scrutiny and speculation triggered by explosive claims from online sources.
The company clarified that Kim Soo Hyun and Kim Sae Ron dated between summer 2019 and fall 2020, after she became an adult, contradicting Garo Sero Institute’s claim that their relationship began in 2016 when she was a minor.
The statement also condemned Garo Sero Institute for spreading misinformation, distorting facts, and using selective private photos to create a misleading narrative. GOLDMEDALIST emphasized that Kim Soo Hyun is being unfairly blamed and denounced the unauthorized exposure of private lives and false allegations surrounding the incident.
The agency had previously announced that an official response would be shared next week. However, citing the actor’s deteriorating psychological state, Gold Medalist said it was compelled to issue an urgent clarification earlier than planned.
Psychological distress and media intrusion
According to the statement, Kim Soo-hyun has been struggling with extreme emotional distress following claims made by YouTube channel Garo Sero Institute, which alleged that he was responsible for Kim Sae-ron’s sudden passing. The actor reportedly experienced severe psychological instability on the morning of 14 March, prompting the agency to take immediate action to ensure his well-being.
Gold Medalist also revealed that since 12 March, the company’s premises have been under intense media surveillance. Individuals with cameras were allegedly waiting outside the company’s parking lot and main entrance, with more photographers spotted loitering around the building on 13 March. This increased media scrutiny, the agency claims, has exacerbated the pressure on Kim Soo-hyun.
Explosive allegations and public reaction
The controversy erupted on 10 March when YouTube channel Hoverlab (Garo Sero Institute) alleged that Kim Soo-hyun had been in a relationship with Kim Sae-ron since she was 15. The channel also released a photograph showing the actor kissing the young actress on the cheek, which fuelled intense speculation on social media.
As the claims gained traction, brands began distancing themselves from Kim, pausing endorsement deals amid the backlash. The situation escalated further as private photos and love letters allegedly linked to the actor surfaced online. The scandal has led some online users to compare Kim Soo-hyun to American music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, who is currently facing serious legal allegations related to sexual misconduct and trafficking.
Industry impact
Kim Soo-hyun, known for his roles in ‘Dream High’ (2011-12), ‘Moon Embracing the Sun’ (2012), ‘My Love from the Star’ (2013-14), and blockbuster films like ‘The Thieves’ (2012), has been one of South Korea’s highest-paid actors. According to reports from Hankook Ilbo, a sister publication of The Korea Times, Kim earned approximately KRW 300 million (US$217,119) per episode for his recent drama ‘Queen of Tears,’ accumulating a total income of KRW 5 billion (around US$3.7 million). His earnings reportedly reached US$423,000 per episode, making him the highest-paid K-drama actor to date.
Gold Medalist’s full statement
Kim Soo Hyun and Kim Sae Ron were dating between the summer of 2019 and fall of 2020, after she became an adult. It is not true that Kim Soo Hyun dated her when she was a minor. Kim Sae Ron’s photo that she uploaded on March 24, 2024 on her Instagram story and the photo that Garo Sero Institute shared on March 11, 2025 were private images taken by the two in the winter of 2020 when they were dating [T/N: Gold Medalist’s statement specifically mentioned Winter 2020 while claiming they were dating between Summer 2019 and Fall 2020]. The clothes Kim Sae Ron was wearing at the time were released in June 2019 by the brand, so Garo Sero Institute’s claim that the photo was taken in 2016 when Kim Sae Ron was a minor is impossible.
In addition, another photo shared by Garo Sero Institute on March 12, 2025, was a photo taken by the two on Christmas Eve, December 24, 2019. This can be confirmed through the picture’s metadata. The photo released on March 13, 2025, was taken on the same day, as seen from the fact that they are wearing the same clothes. All of the photos being shared by Garo Sero Institute with the claim that Kim Soo Hyun dated Kim Sae Ron when she was a minor were taken after she became an adult. Their claim that these photos were taken in 2016 have no grounds. This is because the two were not dating at that time.
Kim Soo Hyun’s letter to Kim Sae Ron while he was in the military was just one of the letters he sent to his close friends. As you could see from the contents of the letter, Kim Soo Hyun was adjusting to the military lifestyle and used the letter to let his close friends know about his daily life in the military. The expression “I miss you” is a light-hearted expression used by soldiers to their close friends. However, Garo Sero Institute is claiming that the two had been dating since 2015, using photos that were taken after Kim Sae Ron was an adult and claiming they were from when she was a minor. They used the postcard sent to Kim Sae Ron after the two were dating to strengthen their claim that the military letter was also a love letter. Kim Sae Ron’s nickname (Saero Nero, 새로네로) that she used publicly since 2016 was made to seem like it was a nickname that only the two used between each other.
There is a lot of criticism being directed towards Kim Soo Hyun regarding their relationship. Even if a relationship between two adults is a private matter, it is natural to expect Kim Soo Hyun’s life, as a person who is loved by many, will be within the public sphere. If there is criticism to be had, then he should accept it seriously and it should sting even more. However, due to Garo Sero Institute’s report, a plethora of false claims and misinformation is spreading as if they are true. The informant who appeared on their broadcast and made numerous false claims stated they were part of Kim Sae Ron’s family. But according to one media outlet, she is actually just an acquaintance of Kim Sae Ron’s mother, [not her aunt]. They are distorting reality and creating rumors based on a few photos and information from an informant whose identity cannot even be confirmed.
The fact that the extremely personal private lives of two people are being forcibly revealed by others, and the fact that both Kim Soo Hyun and the deceased [Kim Sae Ron] are having their private lives discussed alongside numerous rumors and speculative reports, is extremely painful for Kim Soo Hyun and those around both him and Kim Sae Ron. After the private lives of the two were revealed by Garo Sero Institute, we believe that the varied public opinions on his choices are unavoidable. But the past when two consenting adults dated and broke up are being distorted by others and countless lies are still being spread. It is incredibly painful for one person to endure all of this due to their private life. Also, digging into the private life of the deceased is an act of defaming their character.
Claims that Kim Soo Hyun ignored Kim Sae Ron’s financial issues are false
Due to HoverLab’s reports, Kim Soo Hyun has been portrayed as the devil who drove Kim Sae Ron to her death. HoverLab claims that Kim Soo Hyun’s agency GOLDMEDALIST pressured him to repay debts incurred from the deceased’s drunk driving accident, and that when Kim Sae Ron sought help, Kim Soo Hyun ignored her, leading to her extreme choice. However, this is not true. At that time, GOLDMEDALIST paid off the entire remaining debt that Kim Sae Ron could not handle.
GOLDMEDALIST worked with Kim Sae Ron to resolve various penalties related to her acting activities and compensation for merchants affected by the drunk driving incident after the accident. The total penalty amount due to the incident was approximately 1.014 billion won. During the process of determining the compensation amount, we made efforts to minimize Kim Sae Ron’s burden. Through her various efforts to repay the debt, the remaining compensation amount was reduced to about 700 million won. This process included repairing and selling Kim Sae Ron’s vehicle, which was severely damaged in the drunk driving accident, to compensate for some of the damages. This was done at Kim Sae Ron’s request, where GOLDMEDALIST repaired and sold the non-operational accident vehicle, compensating for part of the damages. The claim made by the informant who appeared on HoverLab that we seized Kim Sae Ron’s vehicle is a distortion of this situation.
(Penalty amount due to drunk driving incident)
Keds (Advertisement): 390,000,000 won
“Bloodhounds” (Drama): 700,000,000 won
Damaged Commercial Property: 24,361,852 won
Total: 1,114,361,852 won
However, despite her many efforts, Kim Sae Ron faced difficulties in her activities after the drunk driving incident and found it realistically challenging to repay the remaining amount. As a result, we determined that Kim Sae Ron was no longer able to repay her debt. Consequently, her debt was written off as a loss by us in December 2023. Our audit report dated April 1, 2024 confirms that we processed the entire claim against Kim Sae Ron as an uncollectible accounts expense.
In this process, we had to comply with the legal procedures between us and Kim Sae Ron. If we were to arbitrarily bear the penalties that Kim Sae Ron should have borne, it could lead to the establishment of a breach of trust against the executives who made that decision, and there was a risk that the costs would not be recognized as a company expense. If we lent money to Kim Sae Ron without interest or collateral without any procedures or documentation, it could be seen as providing illegal benefits to a specific individual.
Additionally, in early 2024, during the process of undergoing an accounting audit, we had to decide how to handle the claims against Kim Sae Ron. According to the advice from the law firm and accounting firm conducting the audit, if we processed the amount as an uncollectible accounts expense without any debt collection actions against Kim Sae Ron, it would be seen as us unilaterally forgiving her debt, resulting in a loss for us, which could also raise concerns about a breach of trust by our executives.
Therefore, we had to prove that Kim Sae Ron was in a state of “unrecoverable” debt, meaning she was unable to repay the amount at that time. Thus, it was necessary to confirm that we made efforts to secure our claims against Kim Sae Ron.
This is why we sent a notice to Kim Sae Ron. To proceed with the provision process for the uncollectible accounts expense, we needed to send a notice to prove that we were not arbitrarily waiving our claims against her. There was also a realistic concern that Kim Sae Ron might have to pay a gift tax corresponding to the benefits she would gain from the debt waiver. The message Kim Sae Ron sent to Kim Soo Hyun on March 19, 2024 was written in this context. We needed to follow the process to provision for the uncollectible accounts expense through the notice.
Therefore, the issue of Kim Sae Ron’s debt was entirely a matter between GOLDMEDALIST and Kim Sae Ron. The claims that Kim Soo Hyun personally lent money to Kim Sae Ron or suddenly sought to get it back are unfounded. Kim Soo Hyun has never lent money to Kim Sae Ron, nor has he urged repayment, nor was he in a position to do so.
At the time, Kim Sae Ron, who had left our company, lacked sufficient legal knowledge regarding her debt. Thus, she sent a message to Kim Soo Hyun and not her creditor. However, Kim Soo Hyun was completely unaware of the situation between our company and Kim Sae Ron. At that time, it had been about four years since the two broke up. Kim Soo Hyun inquired about the content of Kim Sae Ron’s message to our company, and we responded to him, “It seems there is a misunderstanding as the other party lacks accurate legal knowledge, so it would not be appropriate to respond to such matters without confirmation from an expert. The company will contact Kim Sae Ron’s agency with legal experts to resolve this amicably without misunderstandings.” We also explained the purpose of the notice we sent to Kim Sae Ron.
Subsequently, on March 26, 2024, Kim Sae Ron’s side expressed through her legal representative, “We would like to express our gratitude for the sincerity your company has shown to our client over the past period, and along with this, we wish to convey our intention to take responsibility for the damages your company has incurred. With the determination of the amount of damages the client is liable for, we hope to coordinate and adjust the future repayment plan through mutual agreement.” This brought the creditor-debtor relationship between GOLDMEDALIST and Kim Sae Ron to a conclusion, and after processing the entire claim against Kim Sae Ron as an uncollectible accounts expense, we have not demanded repayment even once.
Therefore, from Kim Sae Ron’s perspective, it can be seen that she understood she was completely free from her debt to GOLDMEDALIST. To link the cause of her death, which occurred a year later, to this is an unreasonable claim and excessively malicious speculation. GOLDMEDALIST understood the difficult circumstances of our former actress Kim Sae Ron and, while not seeking repayment of the loan, took care to prevent her from incurring gift tax as much as possible according to the law. Additionally, in the process of paying her penalties, we treated it as a loan with 0 percent interest and also set the late payment damages to 0 percent. It is only heartbreaking that this has been distorted as if we pressured her for repayment and that it has been maliciously portrayed as the cause of the deceased’s unfortunate decision a year later.
Who benefits from the unauthorized disclosure of private lives?
Photos taken when Kim Sae Ron was an adult have been misrepresented as photos from when she was 16. An acquaintance of the deceased’s mother has been falsely identified as an aunt. After presenting visually compelling but misleading evidence, the context and timeline are subtly altered, leading to the distortion of facts. A screenshot of a single text message in which the company was being considerate of the debt issue is being used to claim that the company pressured Kim Sae Ron to repay debts. As a result, even though the debt matter was resolved a year ago, this has led to the baseless assertion that the debt issue was the direct cause of the deceased’s recent passing.
In this process, Kim Soo Hyun has been dragged into being the scapegoat for the tragedy faced by the deceased. Context is removed, and a single distorted piece of evidence turns someone into a criminal, and because they are a criminal, everything becomes a target for condemnation. Following HoverLab’s reports, Kim Soo Hyun’s past actions are interpreted as if they were intended malevolence. Along with provocative images that unlawfully leak others’ private lives, claims that Kim Soo Hyun dated Kim Sae Ron when she was 16 are repeated. In this process, falsehoods become established facts, spreading through the internet and generating countless fake news. It is nearly impossible for the party being condemned to refute all of this, and even if they attempt to, it requires an enormous amount of time and effort to organize the vast amount of evidence and materials. In the meantime, the party suffers irreparable damage.
The photos of the two individuals released by HoverLab are indeed real. However, that does not make HoverLab’s claims the “truth.” By throwing out a few pieces of evidence that attract public attention and removing the context behind them, the truth is distorted, causing many to suffer. As mentioned earlier, we believe that the public’s perspective and criticism regarding the series of events involving Kim Soo Hyun should be accepted. However, Kim Soo Hyun, simply because he is a public figure, cannot just unconditionally accept numerous falsehoods and personal attacks. The reactions to Kim Soo Hyun’s private life that have been disclosed so far, or may be disclosed in the future, are something he must endure. However, we want to ask whether it is acceptable for the private matters of two adults to be disclosed without consent and whether he should have to endure all of this due to the non-consensual disclosure of private lives.”
Published: 14 Mar 2025, 10:39 am IST
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