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The case involving Kim Sae-ron and Kim Soo-hyun has taken on a new dimension since the actress's mother made a statement on November 26, claiming to have new evidence to back up her accusations. According to her, these documents prove that the 2 artists had a relationship while her daughter was still a minor. The official investigation is still underway, and the authorities have asked the 2 parties to avoid the media until the investigations are completed - well, that was a few months ago.
With the case dragging on, Kim Soo-hyun's entourage and lawyer have since had to speak out to set the record straight and show public opinion that the whole affair is based on no evidence whatsoever. Actions which do not seem to please the family of the deceased.
The mother claims to be acting in the face of misinformation
In her statement, the mother explains why she has spoken out publicly despite the initial recommendations of silence (whereas up until now she has not officially spoken out, leaving her lawyer, the "false aunt", etc. to do so for her): "After careful consideration, I have found the courage to make a statement. This case is currently under investigation, and the authorities have advised both parties to refrain from speaking to the media, which we initially respected. But Kim Soo-hyun's lawyer is using social networks to sway public opinion with false information."
She also claims to be releasing some evidence to back up her words: "In order to show that Kim Sae-ron was seeing Kim Soo-hyun when she was a minor, we are sharing some of the documents in our possession. I sincerely hope that this statement will be the last media response on either side and that we can await the results of the investigation calmly."
These include messages from Kim Soo-hyun's period of military service, as well as witness statements. An acquaintance of the actress claims to have seen the actor drop her off at the airport when she was under 18. Other details cited include "couple conversation" type exchanges in 2018, and symbolic references to his works in the actress's private life.
Except that no direct mention of Kim Soo-hyun's name appears on these documents, nor any direct evidence of the testimony, again, of an acquaintance. These contents and on-dir could therefore concern anyone.
Firm denial by Kim Soo-hyun's lawyer and escalation of the legal proceedings
Kim Soo-hyun's lawyer, Koh Sang-rock, immediately refuted all the accusations. According to him: "These are documents that have already been given to the investigators and that we have examined. They don't concern Kim Soo-hyun, or they were written by her alone. They have no probative value. Even the so-called 'forensic' digital data doesn't match up when examined closely."
He added that the (long-awaited) results of the police investigation would soon be made public.
The following day, on November 27, Kim Sae-ron's mother issued a new statement, this time denouncing the lawyer's remarks against her daughter. She says: "After the statement issued on November 26, what we received in return was not explanations... but mockery and contempt from Kim Soo-hyun's lawyer towards my daughter and our family."
She accuses the lawyer of abusive language on social networks: "He called my daughter a 'bipolar lunatic', a 'mentally unstable person obsessed with men' and an 'obsessive minor', while sarcastically mocking our family."
In response, a complaint was filed with the Korean Bar Association and the Seoul District Bar Association, seeking disciplinary action against the lawyer.
The mother also denounces what she describes as ongoing online harassment: "Even after my statement, Kim Soo-hyun's fans continue to cause real harm to the deceased and our family through hateful comments and unfounded accusations."
She concludes by assuring the police of her full cooperation: "We responded to all police requests as early as July and handed over Kim Sae-ron's phone and all his electronic devices. Kim Soo-hyun, to my knowledge, has still not been questioned in the proceedings initiated in May for violation of the Child Protection Act."
And makes a direct appeal to the public: "We sincerely ask that the misinformation stop, that the harassment stop, and that everyone await the results of the investigation with restraint."
Cats as proof?
A rather surprising statement, given that the family has provided neither the deceased's telephone nor any digital evidence to support their claims since the beginning of the case. What's more, the "evidence" put forward on November 26 included the names of Kim Sae-ron's cats, which, according to the family, echo Kim soo-hyun's drama Moon embracing the sun.
Rather original evidence, not admissible in court, but something for Kim soo-hyun's fans to work on, who have been investigating since the beginning and have been able to trace a connection with a former co-star of Kim Sae-ron's in her agency in 2018 (before she changed to Gold Medalist) who wore "moon", "sun", "cloud" tattoos, loved sunflowers... All echoing Kim Sae-ron's words and publications during her lifetime.
The question to be asked at this stage is why is the family trying so hard to push the narrative towards Kim Soo-hyun, when it seems that Kim Sae-ron has rubbed shoulders with many men (both as a minor and afterwards)? Why, now that public opinion has seen through these accusations, are they repeating them? Why don't they give a clear answer to the facts that are still unresolved? There's still a long way to go until the courts rule.
Kim Soo-hyun's lawyer responds on November 27
We were waiting for Kho Sang-rock's latest publication before publishing this article. Here it is, dated November 27:
"The deceased's relatives found my article, monitored it and issued several public statements about it. I am therefore addressing a public request to them. I understand that lawyer Bu Ji-seok, representing the deceased's relatives, holds the following position, which he has expressed publicly on several occasions.
- A. The deceased's relatives never thought or claimed that "Kim Sae-ron died after suffering because of actor Kim Soo-hyun".
- B. The deceased's relatives have never stated that the photos supplied to Gaseyeon were "photos taken when she was a minor".
- C. The deceased's relatives have no photos to prove that she had a relationship with actor Kim Soo-hyun when she was a minor, before the summer of 2019, as Gaseyeon claims.
- D. The name of the sender of the key KakaoTalk message from June 2016 ("When will you be able to hug me and fall asleep?") is "unknown", and the only reason they claimed actor Kim Soo-hyun was the caller of that conversation is because that's what the deceased's brother said.
- E. The KakaoTalk message of April 13, 2018 ("if oppa doesn't try harder, I won't see him anymore") exists only as a public screenshot, in which the sender and the interlocutor's reply have been removed.
I've gone on record several times to say that "this is lawyer Bu Jiseok's position". This has been the subject of hundreds of articles. However, in the statements by the victim's relatives published yesterday and today, there is no mention of the 5 points mentioned above.
In this situation, their silence is tantamount to acknowledging the truth of my statements. If they have any objections, let them express them.
And you, journalists, I beg you to gather the position of the victims' families and Saeron's mother on the 5 points mentioned above. If you don't intend to dispute these essential points, when there's nothing left to do after everything has already been revealed, including the dissemination of information about the private life of the deceased when he was a minor, completely unrelated to the actor, I beg you to stop agitating public opinion and calmly await the results of the investigation."
Sa full publication is available on YoutubeThe full translation is below.
The lawyer refocuses the situation on the facts, still waiting for the family to take a stand, since they've been making the same assertions (only to the press) since March, with no new concrete proof (a way of drowning out the fish?). We'll keep you posted, as it looks like a media battle is underway.
"Fabricating a hundred lies and forcing unrelated items as 'evidence' will never turn a lie into truth."
Translation of Kim Soo-hyun's lawyer's latest post:
"Two weeks ago, I publicly asked the bereaved family to stop disseminating writings or documents unrelated to actor Kim Soo-hyun, as such actions would only aggravate the criminal acts and secondary harm inflicted on the actor. I have also asked the actor's fans not to provoke the family unnecessarily."
Despite this, yesterday the family, under the name of "Sae-ron's mother", directly forwarded to the media a private writing from the deceased's past, which has absolutely no connection with the actor. This behavior is eerily similar to that of last March, when they colluded with Gaseyeon to manufacture and release AI-generated videos of the deceased with the aim of manipulating the media.
1. A malicious attempt to falsely link unrelated elements to the actor
My criticism is aimed at the family's irresponsible decision to ignore explicit warnings and attempt to forcibly associate the actor with a message of unknown origin. The family knew that this text portrayed the deceased as a "woman dependent on men, with behavior close to bipolarity", an extremely damaging representation, but nevertheless chose to make it public by associating it directly with the actor.
If this writing was really written by the deceased when she was in second grade (high school equivalent), it shows a young girl expressing emotional distress linked to a man, demanding attention, and ending her text with strange, frenzied laughter (e.g.: "ㅎㅎㄹㄹㄹㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎㄹㄹㄹ...").
Anyone reading it would naturally associate it with emotional instability or bipolar disorder, and I personally found it deeply disturbing.
I have it on good authority that the family thought long and hard before publishing this letter, which proves that they were fully aware of the serious affront to the deceased's dignity. Indeed, rumors were circulating that the family possessed documents depicting the deceased as "depraved", and that they were reluctant to reveal them.
Despite this, the family finally chose to disclose precisely the document they knew to be damaging, just before the results of the investigation were published, sacrificing the dignity of the deceased in order to trigger a new wave of media agitation.
The moral and legal responsibility for this presentation of the deceased as a minor lies entirely with the family.
2. Contradictions between documents, direct evidence of intentional falsification
The writing published by the family totally contradicts the so-called "handwritten letter" they previously claimed to be authentic, the one in which they maintained that a six-year love affair had begun as early as middle school.
Their strategy was to gather all the photos and messages from the deceased's phone and cloud in which the man concerned was not identifiable, then forcibly attribute them to one and the same person. The result is a fundamentally incoherent and irreconcilable narrative.
The family already knew that the handwritten letter and statement relating to the March "debt erasure event" were fabricated. By publishing this new writing, it implicitly acknowledges this forgery, which is clear evidence of intentional defamation and deliberate lies on the part of the deceased's mother.
3. Our position and response to the public manipulation of the private life of the deceased minor
The new statement issued today by the family is nothing more than a misleading tale of victimization. There is no questioning or acknowledgement of their faults. On the contrary, they have chosen to aggravate the situation by referring to disciplinary proceedings against me with the Korean Bar Association, an absurd attempt at intimidation.
I was initially considering limiting my public interventions due to the lack of relevant content in yesterday's statement. However, as the family has now launched a media agitation two days in a row, I have no choice but to actively respond to their manipulative and defamatory actions through the media.
Moreover, since the family itself has now destroyed the deceased's dignity, we are seriously examining the possibility of making public hitherto withheld evidence confirming real elements of the deceased's private life and family relationships.
I sincerely hope it doesn't come to that, but it's becoming increasingly likely.
I will issue a separate, structured statement regarding the family's latest claims.
As for the cat story, I find it humiliating to have to start with such nonsense. Fans discovered the truth within hours. If the number of cats, their names and the date on which they were named were known to the family (in particular the deceased's brother or sister) and despite this a new misleading statement was published, this alone constitutes irrefutable proof of intentional deception and criminal intent.
And I repeat: fabricating a hundred lies and forcing unrelated elements as "evidence" will never turn a lie into truth.
