▲ Kim Se-ui (C), operator of the YouTube channel Hover Lab, speaks to reporters outside the Seoul Central District Court in southern Seoul before he attends his arrest warrant hearing on May 26, 2026. (Yonhap)

(LEAD) YouTuber-arrest warrant

(LEAD) Arrest warrant issued for YouTuber for alleged defamation against actor Kim Soo-hyun

(ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead; ADDS more info in paras 2, 5)

SEOUL, May 26 (Yonhap) --A Seoul court on Tuesday issued an arrest warrant for a conservative YouTuber on charges of spreading false and fabricated information about actor Kim Soo-hyun

The Seoul Central District Court granted the warrant for Kim Se-ui, operator of YouTube channel Hover Lab, citing concerns over flight risk and destruction of evidence.

The YouTuber is accused of defaming the actor by falsely claiming that Kim Soo-hyun had dated late actress Kim Sae-ron while she was a minor and that pressure from his side to repay a debt led to her death early last year.

The YouTuber is also accused of creating doctored audio recordings of the late actress using artificial intelligence technology to falsely claim she had sexual relations with the actor when she was in middle school.

"I do not acknowledge any of the charges," Kim Se-ui said outside the court before attending a hearing earlier in the day. "It is a nonsense warrant that does not even sort out the basic facts."

He disputed the basis for the warrant, vowing to file complaints against police officers and prosecutors who filed for it.

Police filed for the warrant on defamation and other charges on May 14, after determining that Kim must have been aware the allegations against the actor were false.

Hover Lab raised the allegations about Kim Soo-hyun, one of the country's most prominent actors, in March 2025, after the actress was found dead at her home the previous month, following an apparent suicide at the age of 24.

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