Actor Kim Soo-hyun clarified the grooming allegations related to the late Kim Sae-ron's death and the debt collection allegations for 45 minutes. His choice to end the press conference in tears was to refer the matter to investigative authorities. Now, Kim Soo-hyun and the bereaved family of the late Kim Sae-ron are expected to meet in court.

On the 31st, Kim Soo-hyun held a press conference at the Stanford Hotel in Sangam-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, regarding the allegations of his romantic relationship with a minor related to the death of the late Kim Sae-ron.

At the press conference that day, Kim Soo-hyun shared his stance regarding his past relationship with the late Kim Sae-ron and the claims made by the bereaved family. First, Kim Soo-hyun apologized for denying his relationship with the late Kim Sae-ron during the airing of 'Queen of Tears', saying, 'As the leading actor, there were many things I had to protect. If I were to acknowledge my relationship with someone I dated a few years ago, what would happen? How would it affect the actors I was performing with, the entire crew who stayed up nights on set, the production company that was putting everything into this work, and my team? Whenever the choices of the human Kim Soo-hyun and the star Kim Soo-hyun diverged, I always chose to act as the star Kim Soo-hyun. So I was always scared. I was scared of what would happen if everything I chose to protect as the star Kim Soo-hyun came back to me as poison. However, even if I could go back to that time, I would make the same choice again.'

Kim Soo-hyun emphasized that he could not admit to anything that was not true. He stated, 'I cannot accept being forced to acknowledge a lie as the truth while being threatened. I did not date the deceased when they were a minor. And it is also not true that the deceased made a tragic choice because of my rejection or that my agency pressured them regarding their debt,' he explained.

Kim Soo-hyun said, 'Setting aside the fact that we were both actors, my late friend and I would have been just like any other ordinary couple. We had good feelings and eventually parted ways after some time. After that, I hardly stayed in touch with the deceased. Like most couples, it was cautious to communicate separately after breaking up. We were both well-known actors, and when the deceased was with the same agency, I knew to some extent how they were doing, which made it even more difficult. Therefore, even when they had a drunk driving incident, it was not easy to contact them. I heard from a YouTube channel that represented the deceased's bereaved family that the last agency representative mentioned the deceased was struggling because of me during that incident. However, I understand that at that time, the deceased was dating someone else. So I was cautious about contacting them in that situation. We were already living our own separate lives, and I didn’t know what to say.'

Kim Soo-hyun publicly shared recorded conversations exchanged between the former representative of his agency and the last agency representative of the late Kim Sae-ron, refuting the claim that debt collection pressure contributed to the deceased's death. Additionally, Kim Soo-hyun shed tears as he claimed that the mobile messages and audios restored through forensic analysis by the bereaved family were newly recorded after the case was exposed.

Throughout the 45 minutes of shedding tears and clarifying his position, the name 'Kim Sae-ron' did not leave Kim Soo-hyun's lips. He only referred to the late Kim Sae-ron as 'the deceased', showing restraint in mentioning her. His choice to conclude the press conference in tears was a legal response. Kim Soo-hyun stated, 'I will accept any criticism regarding my choices. However, that does not mean that everything untrue becomes factual. Just as I went through a verification process for the KakaoTalk messages, I will thoroughly verify everything the bereaved family presents as evidence through investigative authorities. If the evidence held by the bereaved family is truly factual, I request that they submit all materials to the investigative authorities and go through legal verification.'

Kim Soo-hyun's legal representative noted, 'In accordance with this stance, Kim Soo-hyun and his agency, Gold Medalist, decided to file criminal and civil lawsuits against those involved in order to clarify the facts.' They filed defamation charges against the bereaved family and an unidentified individual claiming to be an aunt, as well as the operator of the Garosero Research Institute, and also initiated a lawsuit for damages amounting to 12 billion won.

Meanwhile, the bereaved family of the late Kim Sae-ron released the contents of mobile messages exchanged between the late Kim Sae-ron and Kim Soo-hyun restored through forensics from 2016, DM conversations between the late Kim Sae-ron and acquaintances in 2024, and a letter written by the late Kim Sae-ron that could not be delivered to Kim Soo-hyun. The bereaved family stated, 'We hope to put an end to the controversy by presenting this evidence.'

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