Kim Soo Hyun's agency issues official statement addressing allegations

Kim Soo Hyun's agency released an official statement earlier than scheduled on Friday, March 14, to address the recent allegations surrounding the actor.

Gold Medalist previously announced that they would release an official statement "next week" to refute the claims of HoverLab Inc.

However, the agency urgently issued an official statement after "Kim Soo Hyun exhibited signs of severe psychological instability, and we have taken measures to ensure that he can achieve absolute stability."

In their statement, translated by Soompi, Gold Medalist acknowledged that Kim Soo Hyun and the late actress Kim Sae Ron were indeed in a relationship "from the summer of 2019, after Kim Sae Ron became a legal adult, until the fall of 2020."

"It is not true that Kim Soo Hyun dated Kim Sae Ron when she was a minor," the agency said.

Per Gold Medalist, the pictures Kim Sae Ron posted on Instagram Stories on March 24, 2024 with Kim Soo Hyun and which were shared by HoverLab this week, were taken during the period of their relationship and not when she was a minor.

"All the photos presented by HoverLab as evidence that Kim Soo Hyun dated Kim Sae Ron since her minor years were taken when she was an adult. The repeated claim by HoverLab that there are 'photos taken in 2016' is unfounded, as the two were not in a relationship at that time," the agency said.

As for the letters Kim Soo Hyoon sent to Kim Sae Ron during his military service, Gold Medalist said that these were among the ordinary letters he sent to friends.

"HoverLab has claimed that the two were dating since 2015, distorting photos taken after Kim Sae Ron became an adult as if they were from her minor years and juxtaposing postcards sent after their relationship with letters from his military service to make ordinary letters appear as love letters," said Gold Medalist.

Gold Medalist also addressed the informant who appeared in HoverLab's recent broadcast on YouTube who claimed to be Kim Sae Ron's family member. Per the agency, the informant is believed to be an acquaintance of Kim Sae Ron's mother based on a report from a media outlet.

"Distorted information based on a source whose identity is not even clear has led to the creation of rumors without any verification from the parties involved. The extremely private lives of the two have been forcibly exposed by others, causing immense pain not only to Kim Soo Hyun but also to those around both individuals," said Gold Medalist.

On Kim Sae Ron's financial issues

In their statement, Gold Medalist also refuted HoverLab's allegations that the agency put pressure on Kim Soo Hyun to pay off Kim Sae Ron's debts related to her drunk driving accident, and that the actor ignored her when she asked for his help, which led to her death.

"This is not true. At that time, Gold Medalist paid off the entire remaining debt that Kim Sae Ron could not handle. Gold Medalist worked with Kim Sae Ron to resolve various penalties related to her acting activities and compensation for merchants affected by the drunk driving incident after the accident," said the agency.

According to Gold Medalist, they worked with Kim Sae Ron to bring down her debts and through her efforts, the remaining compensation was brought down to 700 million won from 1.014 billion won.

The agency also denied HoverLab's allegations that they seized Kim Sae Ron's vehicle, noting that they repaired and sold the damaged vehicle to compensate for part of the damages. Gold Medalist emphasized that this was done at the request of the late actress.

After the drunk driving incident, Gold Medalist said that Kim Sae Ron struggled to pay off the remaining amount of her debt as she experienced challenges in her activities.

"Consequently, her debt was written off as a loss by us in December 2023. Our audit report dated April 1, 2024 confirms that we processed the entire claim against Kim Sae Ron as an uncollectible accounts expense."

The agency added they had to decide how to manage the claims against Kim Sae Ron in early 2024, and had to prove that the actress "was in a state of 'unrecoverable' debt, meaning she was unable to repay the amount at that time. Thus, it was necessary to confirm that we made efforts to secure our claims against Kim Sae Ron."

This, explained the agency, was the reason why they sent a notice to Kim Sae Ron: as proof that they were not waiving their claims against her so "the provision process for the uncollectible accounts expense" could proceed.

Kim Sae Ron's message to Kim Soo Hyun on March 19, 2024 was written in the context of this notice, said Gold Medalist.

At the time, Kim Sae Ron had already left the management of Gold Medalist. The agency stated she "lacked sufficient legal knowledge" about her debt, which is why she messaged Kim Soo Hyun and not her creditor.

"Therefore, the issue of Kim Sae Ron’s debt was entirely a matter between Gold Medalist and Kim Sae Ron. The claims that Kim Soo Hyun personally lent money to Kim Sae Ron or suddenly sought to get it back are unfounded. Kim Soo Hyun has never lent money to Kim Sae Ron, nor has he urged repayment, nor was he in a position to do so."

Gold Medalist also said Kim Soo Hyoon was unaware of the situation between the agency and Kim Sae Ron. Four years had also passed since the two split up.

Moreover, Gold Medalist said that Kim Sae Ron's legal representative expressed their gratitude to them on on March 26, 2024.

Kim Sae Ron's camp had also expressed their intent to "take responsibility for the damages" that Gold Medalist obtained and also planned to work with the agency to "adjust the future repayment plan through mutual agreement."

Gold Medalist added they had processed the entire claim against the actress as "an uncollectible accounts expense, we have not demanded repayment even once."

"To link the cause of her death, which occurred a year later, to this is an unreasonable claim and excessively malicious speculation..." the agency said.

"It is only heartbreaking that this has been distorted as if we pressured her for repayment and that it has been maliciously portrayed as the cause of the deceased’s unfortunate decision a year later."

Read the full statement here. 

Kim Soo Hyun is known for starring in "Queen of Tears," "It's Okay To Not Be Okay," and "My Love from the Star."

He was in the Philippines in 2024 for a fan meet.

Meanwhile, Kim Sae Ron was also formerly managed by Gold Medalist. She parted ways with the company months after being caught driving under the influence of alcohol.

She died by suicide in February at the age of 24.

Kim Sae Ron was known for her roles in the films “A Brand New Life,” and “The Man From Nowhere.” She also appeared in the series “Hi! School Love On,” “Can You Hear my Heart,” and “The Queen’s Classroom,” among others.

— CDC, GMA Integrated News