By Evridiki Fatolia,
Kim Soo-Hyun is a famous South Korean actor that has been particularly known the last years, due to his outbreak in very popular Netflix shows, such as Queen of Tears and It’s okay to not be okay. In 2025, it was also revealed that he is ex-boyfriend of the late actress, Kim Sae-Ron, who committed suicide after her career’s downfall and continuous bullying due to a drunk driving incident, and has been involved in a dating contention after a viral video on YouTube claimed that he and Sae-Ron were in a relationship. The video claimed that Sae-Ron begun dating Soo-hyun at the age of 15, whereas Soo-hyun was 27. The couple dated for quite a long time (six years), until, a few years before her death, Soo-hyun removed himself from Sae-Ron due to the DUI embarrassment in May 2022.
Sae-Ron joined Soo-Hyun’s administration company, Gold Medalist, in 2019 and chose not to expand her contract with her past name, YG Entertainment. He gave her acting classes for free and helped her manage her new beginning as an actress while they were still dating. After her contract with Goldmedalist finished in 2024, the company sent Sae-Ron a lawful notice to pay back the money. When she attempted to contact Soo-Hyun, he did not reply her calls.
As per Kim Sae-Ron’s close relative, the on-screen character passed on by suicide beneath the weight of “not being able to pay back $483,000“. Goldmedalist explained the allegations as “unmerited and pernicious,” and it also accused the YouTube channel for spreading untrue gossipy tidbits and undermined legitimate activity against them.
The contention extended when the YouTube channel distributed extra substance, purportedly shared by Kim Sae-Ron’s family, counting a content message from Sae-Ron inquiring for more time to pay back the money and a 2016 picture of Kim Soo-hyun kissing a, at that point, minor, Kim Sae-Ron. In reaction, Kim Soo-Hyun’s questionable comments from his past media intuitive have gone viral on the web.
Hoverlab, on March 11, released a screenshot of a message Kim Sae-ron sent to Kim Soo-hyun, in which she argued for more time to repay an obligation. This fuelled hypothesis that monetary weight contributed to her passing.
Goldmedalist denied the affirmations, expressing that their pressure wasn’t meant to weigh her down mentally, but just to comply with the legitimacy of the situation.
“If the company were to deliberately cover the punishment expenses (for Kim Sae-ron), there was a chance that the officials who made the choice may be charged with breach of believe, and the costs might not be perceived as deductible commerce costs,” it said.
The office emphatically rejected claims connecting the obligation issue to Kim Sae-ron’s passing, expressing: “Linking the cause of passing to this occurrence a year afterward is troublesome to accept.”
Goldmedalist moreover pushed that Kim Soo-hyun was never actually included.
“The explanations that Kim Soo-hyun personally loaned Kim Sae-ron cash, or attempted to induce it back abruptly, are unfounded,” it said. “Kim Soo-hyun never loaned cash to Kim Sae-ron, never requested reimbursement and was not in a position to do so.”
References
- Actors Kim Soo-hyun and Kim Sae-ron dated when they were legally adults: Agency. The Straits Time. Available here
