The mother of the late actress Kim Sae-ron issued an emotional statement on how much she suffered from malicious comments, especially from YouTubers, and said she never lied about dating in the wake of the controversy involving actor Kim Soo-hyun.
On March 15, Kim Sae-ron’s mother issued a statement through the YouTube channel HoverLab (Garosero Research Institute), which has uploaded videos about Kim Soo-hyun and Kim Sae-ron since March 10.
The YouTube channel showed two photos of Kim Soo-hyun kissing Kim Sa-eron, letter and postcard sent by him to the actress. It also discussed the 700 million debt that Kim Sae-ron owed her former agency Gold Medalist, which manages Kim Soo-hyun.
Kim Sae-ron in the 2020 drama "Nobody Knows" (SBS)
Kim Soo-hyun and Kim Sae-ron (Photos from HoverLab on YouTube)
Screenshot from CCTV footage showing Kim Sae-ron's car accident on May 18, 2022 (Screenshot from YTN video on YouTube)
Kim Sae-ron, 24, 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.
Kim Soo-hyun, through Gold Medalist, issued a statement on March 14, denying that he dated Kim Sae-ron when she was a minor and explained the debt.
In the statement, Kim Sae-ron’s mother said, “After much thought, we decided to issue this statement after seeing that our family's intentions were being distorted and distorted. As we previously conveyed our intentions to Garosero Research Institute, our goal is to restore the child's reputation that was ruined in an instant through numerous false articles. In addition, we want to establish a foundation for criminalizing the malicious YouTubers and cyber-wreckers that are currently occurring and will occur in the future.”
She emphasized that her daughter never lied to the media about being a part-time worker and dating Kim Soo-hyun.
“Sae-ron has never lied to the media. She did not gamble without reflecting on herself, did not cosplay as a part-time worker, and was not a child who only enjoyed entertainment with her friends,” she said.
She explained, “She did not create dating rumors with fabricated photos. However, [YouTuber] Lee Jin-ho and cyber wWreckers created false articles and dragged an ordinary and promising actress and her family into hell.”
“On top of that, Gold Medalist criticized Sae-ron's photo as a crazy girl who lied, saying, ‘We can't understand her intentions.’ Now that Saeron is gone, they are creating a ton of false articles that are not worth reading or even seeing, including stories about Sae-ron being the head of a household and her family squandering the hundreds of billions she earned,” she said.
She was referring to the photo that Kim Sae-ron posted on Instagram in March last year showing her and Kim Soo-hyun posing cheek-to-cheek.
At the time, Gold Medalist denied this, “We would like to inform you that Kim Soo-hyun's dating rumors are unfounded. The photos that are spread online appear to have been taken when they were in the same agency in the past, and the intention of Kim Sae-ron's actions is unknown.”
According to her mother, “What many people are currently seeing is the process of the incident being expanded and reproduced based on a few photos provided to Garosero Research Institute over the past few days. Still, if there is a powerful company behind her and the management hires lawyers who are good at dealing with the situation, they can respond in some way and take action to resolve the incident.”
“However, at that time, Sae-ron had no one but her family. All the sharp arrows of false articles were directed at Sae-ron, a young daughter who had just turned 20, and Sae-ron alone endured the insulting and personal attacks as a woman who could not even speak of it,’ she said.
Here is the rest of the letter:
“It was Lee Jin-ho and the cyber wreckers who trampled and kicked the fallen child, picked her up again, and threw her down again. There were also media outlets that irresponsibly spread the articles written by Lee Jin-ho and the cyber wreckers without even knowing the facts, and many malicious commenters who agreed with them and chimed in. Sae-ron endured this alone for three years, not being able to sleep 24 hours a day. This is like Sae-ron being ostracized by the entire nation because of the false articles that Lee Jin-ho had triggered.
“At the time, no one in the media investigated the truth or the facts. No, they did not even make an effort to do so. They only spread the article written by Lee Jin-ho and agreed to slander and throw away a promising actress, and with that they played the role of a reporter, received a salary, and maintained his daily life.
“As a bereaved family member, I asked for help and asked them to write an article, saying that there were many unfair aspects, but no media outlet reached out to me. While I was mourning my child’s death, there were YouTubers who came to the funeral with cameras hidden on their bodies, and Lee Jin-ho who even called me during the mourning period. Can you call them human? Can you forgive such people?
“If Professor Kwon Young-chan of the Korean Celebrity Suicide Prevention Association had not reached out and asked me at that time, and if Kim Se-ui of Garosero Research Institute had not reached out, my family would have become a scapegoat to Lee Jin-ho and cyber wreckers, and Sae-ron’s lost honor would have been ruined in people’s minds, and we would have lived our whole lives harboring resentment.
“Currently, Lee Jin-ho and his actions are crimes. However, it is difficult to hold them guilty of murder within the framework of the law, which cannot keep up with the changing world. We, the bereaved family, hope that Sae-ron, who has already lost contact with us and will never be seen again, will be restored to the honor she had as an actress during her lifetime, and that legal and institutional measures will be put in place so that the media can fulfill their calling and responsibility to prevent this from happening again.”