Embattled Korean actor Kim Soo-hyun, who starred in the hit drama series “Queen of Tears,” has lost nearly 700,000 followers on Instagram due to the controversy involving the late actress Kim Sae-ron.
YouTube channel HoverLab (Garosero Research Institute) has been releasing details, letters and photos provided by the actress’ family to claim that Kim Soo-hyun (김수현) dated Kim Sae-ron (김새론) for six years starting when she was a minor at 15.
It released two photos showing Kim Soo-hyun kissing Kim Sae-ron on the cheek.
Kim Soo-hyun kissing Kim Sae-ron (Screenshots from HoverLab video on YouTube)
Based on a statement that was supposed to be released by Kim Sae-ron last year after she uploaded a photo with Kim Soo-hyun on Instagram, she 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 six-year relationship ended,” she wrote. Kim Soo-hyun was 27 at the time.
South Korea previously used a different method in computing the age of a person. It followed the global method in 2023.
Due to the allegation that he dated Kim Sae-ron when she was a minor, a number of fans criticized him and unfollowed his Instagram account.
HoverLab started uploading videos about the Kim Soo-hyun and Kim Sae-ron issue on March 10.
Since then, Kim Soo-hyun has lost 697,401 followers on Instagram, based on data from analytics website Social Blade.
Kim Soo-hyun's Instagram followers dropped to 20.5 million as of March 13 (Photo from Kim Soo-hyun's Instagram account and screenshot from Social Blade)
From 21,263,988 followers on March 9, Kim Soo-hyun’s Instagram followers dropped to 20,566,587 on March 13, or a decrease of 697,401 followers.
Kim Soo-hyun lost 1,611 followers on March 10; 20,957 on March 11; 200,152 on March 12; and 474,681 on March 13.
Kim Soo-hyun’s agency, Gold Medalist, which was also Kim Sae-ron’s agency, earlier denied the allegation. It released a new statement to say that it will answer the issues next week.
Kim Sae-ron was found dead last Feb. 16, coincidentally on Kim Soo-hyun’s birthday. Her career came to halt when she was involved in a drunk driving incident in May 2022.