Actor Kim Soo-hyun's side took a hardline stance regarding the late Kim Sae-ron case, saying, "The essence of this incident is 'evidence fabrication,' and it is a nationwide fraud that socially murdered an innocent victim."
Kim Soo-hyun's legal representative, attorney Go Sang-rok, posted a lengthy official statement on his blog on the 27th, rebutting point by point the claims made by the bereaved family.
In his post the attorney said, "The cause of death of the deceased and its background The cause of death of the late Kim Sae-ron is known to be suicide. What can be inferred as the background, in light of various circumstances revealed after her death, is that she married in the United States in January of this year shortly before her death and hoped for a better life, but that marriage ended in failure, and after returning to Korea her plan to open a café also fell through, leaving her in deep despair over her situation," he said. "The bereaved family's representative, attorney Bu Ji-seok, said at a press conference that 'the deceased had made so many suicide attempts that even her family did not know about them,' and this is consistent with what we have identified. Among the multiple self-harm incidents the deceased repeatedly inflicted on herself, the last attempt ultimately led to her death," he added.
He went on to say that the beginning of the misfortune was after the deceased's drunk driving incident in 2022, "During this period it has been confirmed by various materials that the deceased was in a state of de facto severed relations with her family. The deceased, with emotional bonds already broken, no longer expected consolation or support from her family. And if a child had 'repeated self-harm to the point of being in a dangerous state' and their condition was not properly checked, that in itself should be seen as the practical severance of family relations having begun long ago," he said.
He added, "According to a written statement the deceased's ex-boyfriend personally wrote and also testified to orally in March, the deceased suffered from verbal and physical abuse by the American husband she married before her death, was most distressed by the indifference of family members from whom she was already nearly estranged, and despaired over her situation. He testified that even on Nov. 1, 2024, two months before the deceased's death, when the deceased's wrist tendons were severed by self-harm and emergency surgery was required, the family received contact yet no one appeared. We have already confirmed other objective materials that support the fact that similar incidents continued for more than two years after the 2022 drunk driving accident," he explained.
He also criticized the testimony of the 'fake aunt,' saying, "An unidentified acquaintance claimed, 'On Jan. 8 of this year the deceased attempted self-harm and I and my family cared for her.' However, on that day the deceased was in the United States, and official documents confirm that she registered her marriage with a man there that day. This person's testimony is almost 100% false based on the content disclosed so far," and pointed out that the person is completely silent.
The attorney said, "The very claim that they did not know of the deceased's marriage suggests that family relations had been severed. If they (later) learned of the deceased's marriage, there is only one reason they would still lie and say 'we did not know that fact,'" adding, "Because they had to shift responsibility for the deceased's death onto an innocent other man unrelated to the family or the husband."
He continued, "Submit all the group KakaoTalk chat contents mentioned on broadcasts to the investigative authorities. If you claim that everyone in a group chat with many participants 'deleted everything at the same time,' the public will not accept that. Even if everyone deleted them, if digital forensics are conducted on even a single participant's phone, all chat records can be restored," and asked, "I ask the person who claims to be the deceased's 'aunt': you said, 'When the deceased was in high school, she received so many letters from the military that we knew she was dating actor Kim Soo-hyun.' Then disclose all the remaining letters besides the one published letter or submit them all to the investigative authorities. If you claim that of the many letters only one was kept and the rest were all discarded, the public will not accept that either."
He also asked the deceased's parents, "The deceased's friends listened to the audio recording of the May 7 press conference and said, 'Our friend was not someone who would spew such insults.' Is the voice on the published audio recording really the deceased's voice? And is the deceased you remember someone who, after nearly 10 years apart and without any special ties, met a man from another region in a cafe, borrowed a few hundred dollars from him, answered every question he asked, and told coarse stories about her sexual experiences while she was a minor mixed with vulgar language? Is that really the image of the deceased you as parents knew?" he raised his voice.
The attorney argued, "The essence of this case is character assassination through evidence fabrication," saying, "They damaged the reputation of an innocent victim with false materials and manipulated voice files." He also characterized it as, "The case spread to foreign media and damaged the trust in the Korean Wave industry as a whole. This is an international-scale cybercrime."
He urged, "The state must face the essence of this case and thoroughly uncover the reality of fabrication and collusion," and called for, "perpetrators to receive punishments commensurate with their global impact." He concluded, "Silence can no longer protect honor. Do not go along with the fabricated frame," and closed by asking, "Please join us so the innocent victim can return to her original place."
[Photo] OSEN DB, SNS
[OSEN]