Gold Medalist denied the allegations against actor Kim Soo-hyun, including rumors of a romantic relationship with the late Kim Sae-ron during her teenage years and the pressure for compensation from her former agency.

On the morning of the 14th, Gold Medalist, which is both Kim Soo-hyun's agency and Kim Sae-ron's former agency, released an official statement in response to various allegations aimed at Kim Soo-hyun from the recently aired YouTube channel 'Garo-se-ro Research Institute' (abbreviated as Gase-yeon), stating, "It is not true that Mr. Kim Soo-hyun dated Ms. Kim Sae-ron during her teenage years," and "After treating the full amount of the claim against Kim Sae-ron as a loss, we have never once demanded repayment."

According to the statement, Kim Soo-hyun and Kim Sae-ron dated from summer 2019, after Kim Sae-ron had become an adult, until fall 2020. The photo of Kim Soo-hyun and Kim Sae-ron, which Gase-yeon claimed was from her third year in middle school, was actually a private moment captured during their relationship in the winter of 2020. The outfit Kim Sae-ron wore in that photo was released by a brand in June 2019, making Gase-yeon's assertion that it was taken during her teenage years impossible.

Gold Medalist also explained Kim Sae-ron's claims of pressure regarding a claim for approximately 700 million won in damages she sent to Kim Soo-hyun on March 19 of last year, where she said, "Please save me." The penalty for Kim Sae-ron's drunk driving incident was around 1.114 billion won, and Gold Medalist worked to reduce this compensation amount, which was brought down to about 700 million won through Kim Sae-ron's efforts. However, when she found herself in a situation where she could realistically not repay the remaining amount, Gold Medalist treated Kim Sae-ron's debt as a loss in December 2023.

However, during this process, Gold Medalist's executives had to ensure compliance with legal procedures to avoid charges of breach of trust. Thus, they could not process the loss without any demands made to Kim Sae-ron. There were also realistic concerns that due to debt forgiveness, Kim Sae-ron may have to pay a gift tax. To demonstrate her 'uncollectible' state, Kim Sae-ron sent a notice, and Gold Medalist proceeded with the loss provision process.

However, lacking sufficient legal knowledge, Kim Sae-ron reached out to her former lover, Kim Soo-hyun, rather than the creditor Gold Medalist. Four years after their breakup, Kim Soo-hyun, upon receiving contact from Kim Sae-ron, inquired with his agency about the text content, and a legal expert contacted her to resolve the matter amicably without misunderstandings. In this regard, Gold Medalist emphasized that they had never demanded repayment from Kim Sae-ron after actually treating the loss.

Above all, Gold Medalist emphasized regarding the claims from Gase-yeon against Kim Soo-hyun that "Photos taken as an adult turned into photos taken at the age of 16. A friend of the deceased’s mother transformed into an aunt. After presenting a compelling visual basis that drew attention, the content and timeline underlying that evidence were cleverly altered. As a result, an image capturing just one text morphed into the former agency's pressure demanding to repay debts. Therefore, the debt issue that the company resolved for Kim Sae-ron a year ago was pointed out as a direct cause of the deceased's tragic recent passing."

Finally, Gold Medalist stated, "The photos of the two released by Gase-yeon are indeed factual. However, that does not make Gase-yeon's claims 'truth.' I believe that public scrutiny and criticism regarding matters concerning Mr. Kim Soo-hyun should naturally be accepted. However, it is unacceptable for him to be subjected to numerous falsehoods and personal attacks solely because he is a celebrity," and concluded by asking, "Must he endure all these events due to the non-consensual disclosure of his personal life?"

Previously, Gase-yeon criticized Gold Medalist, claiming that Kim Soo-hyun maintained a relationship with Kim Sae-ron from her third year in middle school, when she was a minor, for six years, and that Gold Medalist neglected to act while pressuring Kim Sae-ron over a compensation claim of around 700 million won, utilizing the claims made by Kim Sae-ron's family. In this regard, Gold Medalist identified it as "defamation due to false information" in their initial official statement and announced a follow-up statement the following week. Currently, Kim Soo-hyun is said to be experiencing tremendous confusion and instability due to claims that he is connected to the cause of the deceased's sudden death.

This is the full official statement from Gold Medalist regarding Gase-yeon's YouTube broadcast.

Hello, this is Gold Medalist. We are distributing Mr. Kim Soo-hyun's statement regarding the recent reports by Garo-se-ro Research Institute (hereafter Gase-yeon). Gold Medalist has informed that we will share a statement based on verifiable evidence to refute Gase-yeon's reports by next week. However, early this morning, Mr. Kim Soo-hyun exhibited signs of severe psychological instability, and we took measures to ensure his absolute stability. Following the Gase-yeon report, Mr. Kim Soo-hyun experienced extreme confusion due to claims that the cause of the deceased's sudden death rests with him. Furthermore, on the night after the Gase-yeon broadcast on the 12th, a vehicle with individuals holding cameras was seen guarding near the office entrance and parking lot until dawn, and by lunchtime on the 13th, individuals holding cameras were loitering around the building, continuously putting psychological pressure on Mr. Kim Soo-hyun. Therefore, we sincerely ask for your understanding in distributing this urgent statement to clarify the key issues.

We provide an explanation regarding the dating rumors between Mr. Kim Soo-hyun and Ms. Kim Sae-ron.
Mr. Kim Soo-hyun and Ms. Kim Sae-ron dated from summer 2019, after Ms. Kim Sae-ron became an adult, until fall 2020. It is not true that Mr. Kim Soo-hyun dated Ms. Kim Sae-ron during her teenage years. The photos that Ms. Kim Sae-ron publicly posted on Instagram on March 24, 2024, and those aired on Garo-se-ro Research Institute on March 11, 2025, all captured private moments between the two while they were dating in the winter of 2020. The outfit worn by Ms. Kim Sae-ron in those photos was released by a brand in June 2019, thus making Gase-yeon's assertion that the photo was taken during her teenage years in 2016 impossible.

Additionally, another photo released by Gase-yeon on March 12, 2025, is from Christmas Eve, December 24, 2019, featuring the two together, and we have secured the metadata (at the bottom of this paragraph). The photo released on March 13 also confirms this as it shares the same outfit, indicating it was taken on the same day. All photos presented by Gase-yeon as evidence of Mr. Kim Soo-hyun dating Ms. Kim Sae-ron since her teenage years were captured after she became an adult. The repeatedly claimed "photo taken in 2016" does not exist, as they were not dating at that time.

The letters Mr. Kim Soo-hyun sent to Kim Sae-ron during his military service were among letters sent to close acquaintances. As confirmed in the content, he was adapting to military life, often writing in detail about his daily life in the military to his acquaintances. Expressions of missing someone were casually used by soldiers towards close acquaintances. However, Gase-yeon asserted that the two were dating since 2015, distorting photos taken after Ms. Kim Sae-ron became an adult as if they had been taken during her teenage years, and juxtaposed ordinary letters with postcards sent after their relationship began, making them appear as romantic letters. The nickname Ms. Kim Sae-ron publicly used on social media since 2016 was also distorted into a term of endearment exclusively between the two.

There has been much criticism regarding Mr. Kim Soo-hyun. Even if the relationship between the two adults is a private matter, it is natural for the life of Mr. Kim Soo-hyun, who is beloved by many, to be subject to public evaluation; that evaluation should be taken seriously and painfully, especially if it is sharp criticism. However, due to Gase-yeon's report, countless pieces of misinformation and falsehoods are spreading as if they are truths.

The informant claiming to be a family member of Ms. Kim Sae-ron appearing on Gase-yeon asserted their relationship. However, according to reports from another media outlet, they are said to be a friend of Ms. Kim Sae-ron's mother. Misinformation has been generated based on a few distorted images through an informant whose identity is not even accurate, spreading rumors without even verifying with the parties involved. The highly personal lives of the two are being forcibly disclosed by others, causing immense pain not only to Mr. Kim Soo-hyun but also to the deceased and their acquaintances as countless rumors and conjectures circulate.

Following the disclosure of the two's personal lives through Gase-yeon, it is unavoidable that the public will have diverse opinions on Mr. Kim Soo-hyun’s choices. However, the past relationship between the two adults has been distorted by others, and countless lies are still spreading. It is extremely painful for someone to endure such consequences due to personal life matters. Moreover, this constitutes a violation of the deceased's personal life and defamation.

Claims that Mr. Kim Soo-hyun ignored Ms. Kim Sae-ron's financial issues are not true.
Due to Gase-yeon's reports, Mr. Kim Soo-hyun has become labeled a devil who drove Ms. Kim Sae-ron to her death. It is alleged that Gold Medalist pressured Kim Sae-ron for debts arising from her drunk driving accident, and that Kim Sae-ron sought help but was ignored by Mr. Kim Soo-hyun. This led to speculation that she had to make an extreme choice. However, this is not true. At that time, Gold Medalist repaid all of the remaining debts that Kim Sae-ron could not handle.

Gold Medalist worked together with Kim Sae-ron to resolve various penalties related to her acting activities and damages to merchants affected by her drunk driving incident. The fines arising from the incident totaled approximately 1.114 billion won. In the process of determining the compensation amount, Gold Medalist made efforts to minimize the burden on Kim Sae-ron by working to reduce the amount. Subsequently, through Kim Sae-ron's multiple efforts to repay the debt, the outstanding amount was reduced to around 700 million won.

The process of reducing the amount included repairing and selling Kim Sae-ron's vehicle that was severely damaged due to the drunk driving incident. This was executed at Kim Sae-ron's request, wherein Gold Medalist repaired and sold a vehicle that was inoperable, partially compensating for the loss. The assertion by the informant appearing on Gase-yeon that the agency seized Kim Sae-ron's vehicle is a distortion of this matter.

Photo of the 'penalty amount due to drunk driving incident' table.

However, despite her many efforts, Ms. Kim Sae-ron struggled in her activities after the drunk driving incident and found herself in a situation where she could not realistically repay the remaining amount. Consequently, Gold Medalist determined that Ms. Kim Sae-ron was no longer capable of repaying her debt. Therefore, her debt was treated as a loss by the agency in December 2023. In the agency's audit report dated April 1, 2024, it can be confirmed that the full amount of claim against Ms. Kim Sae-ron was processed as a bad debt.

Photo of Gold Medalist's balance sheet at that time.

During this process, it was necessary to comply with legal procedures between the agency and Ms. Kim Sae-ron. If the agency arbitrarily took on any penalties that Kim Sae-ron was required to bear, it could lead to breach of trust charges against its executives, and there was a concern that the respective costs could not be recognized as losses for the company. If any amount lent to Kim Sae-ron was provided without interest or collateral, and without going through any procedures or documentation, the agency's executives could be seen as providing illegal benefits to a specific individual.

Additionally, in early 2024, during the agency's accounting audit, it needed to decide how to handle the debt against Ms. Kim Sae-ron. According to the advice from the legal and accounting firms conducting the audit at that time, if the agency treated the amount as bad debt against Ms. Kim Sae-ron without any demand for payment, it would essentially be deemed to have unilaterally forgiven her debt, leading to losses for the agency, raising concerns about its executives being accused of breach of trust as well.

As a result, it was necessary to prove that Ms. Kim Sae-ron was in an 'uncollectible' state regarding her debts at that time. Therefore, the fact that the agency had made efforts to secure the debt claim against her had to be confirmed. This was the reason for the agency sending the notice to Kim Sae-ron. In order to proceed with the bad debt provisioning process, it needed to be proven that the agency did not arbitrarily waive its debt claim against Kim Sae-ron.

Moreover, there was also a realistic concern that Ms. Kim Sae-ron might have to pay a gift tax corresponding to the benefits obtained from debt forgiveness. The text message sent by Ms. Kim Sae-ron to Mr. Kim Soo-hyun on March 19, 2024, was drafted in this context. The agency had to follow the process to provision for Ms. Kim Sae-ron's debt via the notice.

Photo of the 'Concerns raised by the accounting firm regarding Article 36 of the Inheritance Tax Act.'

Thus, the debt issue regarding Ms. Kim Sae-ron was entirely a matter between Gold Medalist and Ms. Kim Sae-ron. Claims that Mr. Kim Soo-hyun personally lent money to Ms. Kim Sae-ron or that he suddenly sought to reclaim it are baseless. Mr. Kim Soo-hyun never lent money to Ms. Kim Sae-ron, nor did he ever urge repayment or was in a position to do so.

At the time, Ms. Kim Sae-ron, who was no longer with the agency, lacked sufficient legal knowledge regarding her debts. Consequently, she reached out to Mr. Kim Soo-hyun instead of the creditor. However, Mr. Kim Soo-hyun was completely unaware of the situation between the agency and Kim Sae-ron. The two had been separated for four years by that point. Mr. Kim Soo-hyun inquired with the agency about the content of her message, and the agency replied to him: "Since the other party may misunderstand due to a lack of precise legal knowledge, it doesn’t seem appropriate to respond to such matters without professional verification. The company will contact Ms. Kim Sae-ron's agency along with legal experts to resolve the misunderstanding smoothly." The intent of the notice was explained, as attached.

Photos of the controversial past text messages from Kim Sae-ron and the responses from Gold Medalist.

Subsequently, on March 26, 2024, Kim Sae-ron's legal representative expressed, "While expressing gratitude regarding the sincerity your company has shown towards my client during this time, I would also like to emphasize that I am of course willing to take responsibility for the damages incurred by your company. I would like to negotiate and coordinate a settlement regarding the confirmation of the damages I must assume and future repayment plans." With this, the creditor-debtor relationship between Gold Medalist and Ms. Kim Sae-ron was brought to an end, and the agency has not demanded repayment a single time after processing the entire claim against Ms. Kim Sae-ron as bad debt.

Therefore, from Ms. Kim Sae-ron's perspective, it can be understood that she believed she was completely free from her debt to Gold Medalist. To link the cause of her death, a year later, to this matter is an implausible claim and overly malicious speculation. Gold Medalist understood the difficult situation of its former actress, and working within the law, made meticulous efforts to avoid imposing gift taxes on Ms. Kim Sae-ron while not seeking repayment. Additionally, in the process of covering her penalties, they set the accompanying lending to 0% interest and also calculated the late payment penalties at 0%. Their actions have been maliciously distorted as an insistence on repayment, heuristically linking it as a cause of the deceased's extreme choice a year later, which is truly heartbreaking.

Whose benefit is served by non-consensual publication of private lives?

Photos taken as adults turned into photos taken at the age of 16. Friends of the deceased's mother transformed into relatives. After captivating visual evidence was presented, the underlying content and timeline were artfully altered. Consequently, a captured image of a single text has been transformed into an allegation against the former agency of pressuring for debt repayment. Thus, the debt issue the company resolved for Kim Sae-ron a year earlier is being identified as a direct cause of the deceased's recent tragic passing.

In this process, Kim Soo-hyun was dragged into the blame for the tragedy faced by the deceased. Removing context and distorting one piece of evidence can turn someone into a criminal, making them subject to condemnation simply for being labeled a sinner. Following Gase-yeon's reports, all of Mr. Kim Soo-hyun's past actions are interpreted as intentional misdeeds. Along with provocative images that unlawfully leaked personal lives, claims that Mr. Kim Soo-hyun dated the then 16-year-old Kim Sae-ron are repeatedly asserted.

In this process, false information morphs into accepted facts, spreading through the internet and generating countless fake news. For the party being condemned, it is nearly impossible to issue individual refutations, and even if they do, it requires immense time and effort to gather substantial evidence and materials. Meanwhile, the involved party suffers damages that are difficult to recover from.

The photos of the two released by Gase-yeon are indeed factual. However, that does not make Gase-yeon's claims 'truth.' By throwing a few pieces of evidence that catch the public's eye and removing the underlying context, truth gets distorted, leading to many suffering. As mentioned earlier, public scrutiny and criticism regarding events related to Mr. Kim Soo-hyun should naturally be accepted.

However, it is not acceptable for Mr. Kim Soo-hyun to unconditionally endure numerous falsehoods and personal attacks solely because he is a celebrity. The reactions faced regarding Mr. Kim Soo-hyun's private life, which have been disclosed to the public until now or may potentially be disclosed in the future, will have to be tolerated. However, I want to ask whether it should be accepted that the private matters of two adults should be made public without consent, and whether it is necessary for him to endure all these events due to the non-consensual exposure of his personal life.

[Photo] OSEN DB, provided by Gold Medalist.

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