Actor the late Kim Sae-ron is facing continued severance regarding actor Kim Soo-hyun, who is suspected of so-called "grooming" while she was a minor. The controversy is escalating beyond the advertising industry and into the entertainment sector.

Kim Soo-hyun is currently surrounded by several allegations related to the death of the late Kim Sae-ron. After the late Kim Sae-ron passed away on the 16th, the YouTube channel "Garoseoro Research Institute" (hereafter referred to as Gaseyeon) claimed in conjunction with the bereaved family that Kim Soo-hyun and Kim Sae-ron had been in a relationship for six years from 2015, when Kim Sae-ron was a minor, until 2021, and that in 2022, despite the late Kim Sae-ron experiencing hardships due to a pause in activities after a drunk driving accident, they pressured her to repay 700 million won borrowed to handle the incident.

Kim Soo-hyun's side declared it as "a clear falsehood" and announced the strongest possible legal response. Nevertheless, amidst the revelations from Gaseyeon and the leak of private photos of the two individuals, Kim Soo-hyun appeared to be in a psychologically unstable state, prompting them to issue an official statement. Kim Soo-hyun's side claimed they did not date Kim Sae-ron when she was a minor and had not requested repayment even once after treating the full amount of the claim against Kim Sae-ron as bad debt.

As revelations, rebuttals, and further rebuttals continued, negative public sentiment towards Kim Soo-hyun grew more intense and serious. The advertising industry was particularly sensitive to this. Aesthetic brands, cosmetic brands, restaurant brands, and health supplement brands that had selected Kim Soo-hyun as their advertising model deleted his photos from official channels and transitioned the advertising videos to private status.

Kim Soo-hyun's ongoing projects were also affected. He was currently appearing in Disney+ "Knock-Off" and MBC entertainment show "Good Day." The "Knock-Off" side stated that filming and preparation for the production announcement were proceeding without any setbacks, while "Good Day" confirmed that Kim Soo-hyun completed the recording in which he participated on the 13th.

However, on the 16th broadcast of "Good Day," Kim Soo-hyun's appearance was minimized. Conscious of the negative public sentiment, the "Good Day" team reduced Kim Soo-hyun to only brief shots, stating, "The production team recognizes the seriousness of the controversy surrounding the participants and continues to produce while prioritizing viewer responses."

The "Good Day" team stated, "This program is pre-produced at least one week, and up to two weeks in advance due to translation procedures involved in overseas broadcasts and transmissions. The fifth episode that aired yesterday was already in the process of translation after being submitted through negotiations with platforms like MBC and global OTT right after the controversy arose, and the segment featuring Kim Soo-hyun from 'Good Day Assembly' was urgently edited and resubmitted. As a result, the fifth episode was about 10 minutes shorter than previous episodes, and the details were lacking," adding, "Regarding the recording conducted on March 13, due to delays in the audio recording of 'Good Day' compared to the schedule, the production team awaited an official statement from Kim Soo-hyun's agency regarding the controversy. However, since the agency indicated they would make a statement next week (as of March 13) and that securing participant schedules thereafter would be difficult, they ultimately had no choice but to proceed with the recording. The production team held careful discussions with an eye toward potential content deletion and worked to film and sketch as much as possible without overlapping with other participants. We sincerely apologize for causing concern to those who love 'Good Day.'"

The "Good Day" team immediately distanced itself from Kim Soo-hyun. According to OSEN's coverage on the 17th, the "Good Day" team processed five videos related to Kim Soo-hyun published on YouTube that morning as private. This action took place just a few hours after their official statement.

Meanwhile, Kim Soo-hyun's side has requested a conversation with the bereaved family of the late Kim Sae-ron. On the 15th, Kim Soo-hyun's side stated, "However, among the claims made by her mother, there seem to be parts where our views differ. Also, I think there may be things she is not yet aware of. It does not seem appropriate to publicly argue over this to recover the honor of both her mother, who sought any means possible, and the deceased. Our management would like to visit her mother to provide thorough explanations. It would be appreciated if you could contact the Gold Medalist office at any time."

[Photo] OSEN DB

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