Korean actor Kim Soo-hyun tearfully denied allegations that he dated the late Kim Sae-ron when she was a minor, during a press conference this afternoon held three weeks after the deceased’s family made the claims.
The controversy began when Kim Sae-ron’s family revealed through a YouTube channel called “Garo Sero Yeonguso” – an ultra-right channel run by an ex-journalist – that the two had a six-year relationship beginning when Kim Sae-ron was in middle school. Middle school pupils in Korea are typically aged between 12 and 15.
So far, the YouTube channel has released several photos of the two together, screenshots of the messages between the two, and a photo of a handwritten letter that Kim Soo-hyun allegedly wrote to Kim Sae-ron in 2018 when he was 30 and serving in the military. At the time, Kim Sae-ron was 18 years old.
Kim Soo-hyun acknowledged a past relationship with Kim Sae-ron but said it occurred five years ago when she was an adult. The relationship lasted for a year, he said.