The bereaved family of the late Kim Sae-ron reiterated that the deceased dated actor Kim Soo-hyun when she was a minor and released evidence. As the dispute over the truth continues, attention is focused on the outcome of the investigation.
On the 26th, the bereaved family of the late Kim Sae-ron delivered a statement through their legal representative, Law Firm Buyou lawyer Bu Ji-seok, and after asserting that the deceased dated Kim Soo-hyun when she was a minor, they disclosed some of the materials the family possesses.
On the day, the late Kim Sae-ron's mother (hereafter mother) began, "This is Sae-ron's mother. After much thought, I have gathered the courage to write. Our case is currently under investigation. The investigating agencies advised that parties refrain from media contact, and we accepted the investigating agencies' recommendation."
The mother said, "However, recently, lawyer Go Sang-rok, who claims to be Kim Soo-hyun's legal representative, has been posting continuously on his YouTube channel 'Jin-gyeok-ui Go-byeon' and stirring public opinion with false claims," adding, "We are not responding to the media at all, but the other side is continuously responding through the lawyer's YouTube, so I worry that the world's believing the other side's false claims, and that the truth might be shaken and buried."
The mother added, "To show that Kim Sae-ron dated Kim Soo-hyun when she was a minor, we are releasing today some of the materials we have. With this press release as the last, we hope both sides stop media responses and wait for the investigating agencies' results."
The bereaved family claimed the relationship during their minority with six main pieces of evidence: detailed statements from acquaintances that Kim Sae-ron dated Kim Soo-hyun when she was a minor; a memo Kim Sae-ron wrote on Sept. 28, 2017, before Kim Soo-hyun's military enlistment; a Feb. 22, 2018, KakaoTalk message; a KakaoTalk message from around April 2018; a photo taken at Kim Soo-hyun's home in June 2018 related to dakdoritang; and a letter Kim Sae-ron wrote intending to deliver to Kim Soo-hyun and messages with friends.
According to the bereaved family's claims, one of Kim Sae-ron's acquaintances testified that when Kim Sae-ron was a minor she dated Kim Soo-hyun, and that when she and Kim Sae-ron went to Jeju Island together, Kim Soo-hyun even escorted them to the airport, giving a specific testimony. The acquaintance also testified that Kim Sae-ron's cat's name was originally "patddeok" and "kkulddeok," but Kim Soo-hyun changed it to "dal" and "gureum," citing that Kim Soo-hyun had appeared in the past in "The Moon Embracing the Sun."
Also, from a memo extracted by forensically examining electronic devices Kim Sae-ron had, expressions appeared that would be used only between lovers, such as "We have it hard, there are many things to get past, initially the visible one is me," and "If oppa said that because he really plans to meet me again, then I can wait for oppa now. Rather than wait, I can just keep liking him," and through this memo they claimed it can be seen that Kim Sae-ron and Kim Soo-hyun were already in a romantic relationship before the memo's Sept. 28, 2017, writing date.
In addition, they said messages exchanged when Kim Soo-hyun took a new recruit morale leave and then returned to his unit were presented as messages between the two, showing they marked each other with "♥" and that Kim Soo-hyun expressed to Kim Sae-ron "I miss you, you're pretty," and asked rhetorically whether these could not be considered messages between lovers. Also, after those messages, on March 3 there is a capture showing Kim Sae-ron sharing a photo of Kim Soo-hyun and saying "I wanted to show this," with reactions above the message saying "pretty" and "♥," so the bereaved family emphasized that Kim Soo-hyun and Kim Sae-ron did date when they were minors.
Moreover, the bereaved family released a letter Kim Sae-ron did not deliver to Kim Soo-hyun, and argued that merely seeing wording in the letter such as "The time we met was about five to six years. It was both my first love and my last love" confirms that Kim Sae-ron dated Kim Soo-hyun for a considerable period starting from her minority.
Meanwhile, Kim Soo-hyun's side admitted that he dated Kim Sae-ron but firmly drew a line saying they did not date when she was a minor. Kim Soo-hyun held a press conference and said, "Dating during her minority is not true," and denied that the KakaoTalk messages from 2016 and 2018 were exchanged by him.
Kim Soo-hyun's side drew the line that his relationship with the late Kim Sae-ron began in the summer of 2019 after she became an adult, and along the way information was disclosed alleging that Kim Soo-hyun dated actor A, a former idol, for three years from 2016 to 2019.
Currently, Kim Soo-hyun's side has filed lawsuits for defamation and damages against the bereaved family and YouTubers, intensifying the legal battle, and the late Kim Sae-ron's bereaved family also countersued Kim Soo-hyun for violations of the Child Welfare Act and false accusation, continuing the dispute over the truth, while lawyer Go Sang-rok has been intensifying his offensive daily by asserting Kim Soo-hyun's innocence.
[photo] OSEN database, provided by the bereaved family
[OSEN]