Photo:VCG
South Korean actor Kim Soo-hyun is facing mounting backlash over allegations that he was in a relationship with the late actress Kim Sae-ron when she was a minor. The controversy has intensified both in South Korea and in China on Friday, especially after his agency issued an urgent statement acknowledging their past relationship but emphasized that Kim Sae-ron was of legal age at the time.
"Kim Soo-hyun and Kim Sae-ron were in a relationship from the summer of 2019 to the fall of 2020, after she became a legal adult," his agency Gold Medalist said in a statement released Friday. The agency added that "It is not true that he dated her when she was a minor," according to The Korea Times.
A South Korean YouTube channel called Hoverlab released a video on March 10, alleging that the 37-year-old actor Kim Soo-hyun began dating Kim Sae-ron when she was 15, and they were in a relationship for six years. Kim Sae-ron was found dead in her home in Seoul on February 16, 2025 due to suicide, according to a report from The Strait Times.
Gold Medalist had denied the allegations in an earlier statement on March 10, calling the claims "baseless" and "malicious." It threatened legal action against Hoverlab.
The agency also denied claims that Kim Soo-hyun and Gold Medalist pressured Kim Sae-ron to repay a debt of 700 million won ($482,000) by sending her a certified notice demanding repayment. Hoverlab on Tuesday released a screenshot of a message Kim Sae-ron sent to Kim Soo-hyun, in which she pleaded for more time to gather money to repay a debt. This fueled speculation that financial pressure contributed to Kim Sae-ron's passing in February, according to The Korea Herald.
Kim Soo-hyun gained popularity in China after starring alongside South Korean actress Jun Ji-hyun in the 2013 TV drama
My Love from the Star.
Chinese netizens have been closely following the incident as the controversy continues to escalate, with Hoverlab releasing more videos and pictures, some of which were allegedly provided by Kim Sae-ron's family.
Hashtags such as "Kim Soo-hyun admits relationship with Kim Sae-ron" and "Kim Soo-hyun lying," along with other keywords related to the scandal, have topped trending charts on China's social media platform Sina Weibo for several days. According to official Weibo data, in the past 24 hours, Kim Soo-hyun has been the subject of 50 trending topics, generating 573,000 discussions and accumulating 3.99 billion views.
Two viral photos showing Kim Soo-hyun kissing Kim Sae-ron further fueled public backlash. Chinese netizens also swarmed Kim Soo-hyun's Sina Weibo account, with some commenting that they regret being his fans and vowing to commemorate Kim Sae-ron every year on his birthday.
Some netizens criticized Kim Soo-hyun and his agency for issuing what they described as an evasive statement. Others accused him of dating a minor, while some of Kim Soo-hyun's fans called for an end to the spread of rumors and "cyberbullying."
Under South Korean law, any romantic involvement with a minor under 16 is considered a criminal offense. South Korean media outlet Nate News cited lawyers as saying that a relationship with a minor that does not involve sexual activity is not subject to legal punishment. However, depending on the circumstances, it may be considered child abuse or other offenses.
