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| yna@yna.co.kr 2025-03-14 13:57:15
SEOUL, March 14 (Yonhap) -- South Korean actor Kim Soo-hyun has admitted to having been in a relationship with the late Kim Sae-ron but denied allegations that their relationship began when she was underage.
In an official statement released on Friday, Kim's agency, Gold Medalist, stated, "Kim Soo-hyun and Kim Sae-ron were in a relationship from the summer of 2019 to the fall of 2020, after Kim Sae-ron had become an adult. The claim that they dated when she was underage is not true."
The agency also refuted allegations raised by YouTube channel Garo Sero Institute (Gaseyeon), asserting that all photos recently revealed by the channel were taken after Kim Sae-ron reached adulthood. "The so-called '2016 photo' repeatedly mentioned by Gaseyeon does not exist because they were not in a relationship at that time," the agency explained.
Additionally, the agency denied claims that Kim Soo-hyun had paid approximately 700 million won (US$ 520,000) on behalf of Kim Sae-ron for damages related to her DUI accident and later pressured her to repay the amount after her contract with the agency ended.
"Kim Sae-ron’s financial liabilities were strictly between her and Gold Medalist," the agency stated. "Kim Soo-hyun never lent her money nor demanded repayment."
The agency further clarified that Gold Medalist had covered the remaining debts from Kim Sae-ron’s DUI incident, concluding that she was unable to repay them and thus wrote off the debt as a loss. The legal notice sent to Kim Sae-ron was to document that her debts were deemed irrecoverable, they explained.
Regarding the text message Kim Sae-ron sent to Kim Soo-hyun after receiving the legal notice, the agency stated, "At the time, Kim Sae-ron had already left the agency and lacked sufficient legal knowledge regarding the matter." They added that Kim Soo-hyun had forwarded the message to Gold Medalist, which then explained the intent of the legal notice to her.
On March 10, Gaseyeon claimed, citing a conversation with Kim Sae-ron's family, that Kim Soo-hyun had been in a relationship with Kim Sae-ron for six years starting in 2015, when she was 15 years old. The next day, the channel released a photo of Kim Soo-hyun kissing Kim Sae-ron on the cheek, followed by images on March 12 allegedly showing her reaching out to Kim Soo-hyun after receiving the legal notice.
Gold Medalist initially announced on March 13 that it would formally address the rumors with clear evidence the following week. However, citing mounting psychological distress on Kim Soo-hyun, the agency decided to issue a statement earlier.
"A person having to endure such accusations over their private life is immensely painful," the agency stated. "Furthermore, this scrutiny is a violation of the late Kim Sae-ron’s privacy and a defamation of her honor."
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