The late Korean actress Kim Sae-ron begged actor Kim Soo-hyun for help regarding the 700 million won (about $482,000) she owed her former agency following her drunk driving incident in May 2022.
In addition, a new photo showing Kim Soo-hyun kissing Kim Sae-ron on the cheek was revealed to bolster claims by a YouTube channel that he dated her when she was a minor.
Kim Sae-ron was found dead last Feb. 16, coincidentally on Kim Soo-hyun’s birthday.
She was an actress under agency Gold Medalist, which also manages Kim Soo-hyun. Following drunk driving incident in May 2022, he career came to a halt.
Kim Soo-hyun kissing Kim Sae-ron in a 2016 photo (Screenshot from HoverLab video on YouTube)
Kim Sae-ron uploaded this photo with Kim Soo-hyun in March last year (Instagram)
Kim Sae-ron (Instagram)
Kim Soo-hyun (Instagram)
On March 11, YouTube channel HoverLab (Garosero) posted another video with materials coming from Kim Sae-ron’s family.
The channel previously claimed that Kim Soo-hyun dated Kim Sae-ron for six years starting when she was 15 while he was 27.
Gold Medalist denied the allegations.
In the new video, HoverLab showed a text that Kim Sae-ron sent to Kim Soo-hyun in March last year after she received a certified letter from Gold Medalist demanding for the payment of the debt.
"When Kim Sae-ron caused a drunk driving controversy, she did not receive any protection from her agency, Gold Medalist, and instead received a certified letter demanding that she pay off 700 million won in debt," Kim Sa-ron’s family told the YouTube channel, Korean media reported.
They added, "Kim Sae-ron tried to contact Kim Soo-hyun, the founder of her agency, but when she could not reach him, she uploaded a photo of them face to face in the hopes that he would contact her."
The photo was Kim Soo-hyun and Kim Sae-ron which she uploaded and deleted on her Instagram account in March last year.
In the text message dated March 19, 2024, Kim Sae-ron told Kim Soo-hyun, "Oppa, it's Sae-ron. I received a certified letter. They are suing me. I'm diligently preparing for my comeback because they said they'd give me plenty of time, and I'll pay back a certain percentage of each project. I'm not saying I won't pay, but if you ask me for 700 million won right away, I really can't. It's not that I won't, I just can't, but do I really have to go to court? Please save me. I'm begging you. Give me time."
It was reported that Kim Soo-hyun did not respond to her message.
In a report by Korean media outlet Dispatch, Gold Medalist said the 700 million won was paid as damages to the production company of the Netflix series “Bloodhounds,” which starred Woo Do-hwan and Lee Sang-yi.
HoverLab also showed a photo of Kim Soo-hyun kissing Kim Sae-ron to bolster the claim that he dated her when she was 15 years old.
The YouTube channel previously showed a statement purportedly written by Kim Sae-ron who was planning to post it on Instagram last year after she uploaded a photo with Kim Soo-hyun.
In the statement, provided by Kim Sae-ron’s family to the YouTube channel, Kim Sae-ron wrote, “The photo posted in the story is from 2016, and the relationship lasted from November 19, 2015 to July 7, 2021. I am 16 years old and my partner is 30 years old. That was it. That's how the 6-year relationship ended,” she wrote. Kim Soo-hyun was 27 at the time.
Kim Sae-ron's mother stated, "Reiterating the story of a child who is no longer by my side is to restore the child's reputation that was ruined in an instant by false articles. I just want to be remembered and honored as an actor when I was alive. Please help me restore her former reputation as an actor without becoming someone's gossip."