Actor Kim Soo Hyun’s label Gold Medalist has released an official statement to address the various rumors and accusations surrounding him and the late actress, Kim Sae Ron.

Read the full statement, below.

“Hello, this is Gold Medalist.We would like to distribute Kim Soo Hyun’s official position in response to the claims made by HOVERLAB. 

Previously, Gold Medalist stated that a statement based on factual evidence will be released by next week. However, Kim Soo Hyun began showing symptoms of severe emotional distress early this morning. Since the accusations raised by HOVERLAB (Garo Sero Research Institute), claiming that Kim Soo Hyun was responsible for the death of the late actress, the actor has had to endure extreme chaos. After HOVERLAB’s report on March 12, an individual wielding a camera began camping out in the parking lot across the street from the company building. By lunchtime on March 13, numerous reporters wielding cameras had begun hanging around the building, pressuring Kim Soo Hyun. As a result, Gold Medalist has decided to release a statement addressing the key points of this recent issue. Please understand that some explanations may not be entirely satisfactory, as this statement was not planned for release until a later time.

[Kim Soo Hyun’s relationship with Kim Sae Ron.]Kim Soo Hyun began dating Kim Sae Ron in summer of 2019, after she became of legal age, and their relationship continued until autumn of 2020. It is not true that Kim Soo Hyun dated Kim Sae Ron while she was a minor. The photo revealed by Kim Sae Ron on March 24, 2024, and the photo revealed by HOVERLAB on March 11, 2025, were both taken on a day in winter of 2020, when the two were still dating. The clothing worn by Kim Sae Ron was an item released by a certain clothing brand in June of 2019. Therefore, HOVERLAB’s claim that the photo was taken in 2016, when Kim Sae Ron was a minor, cannot be true. Another photo revealed by HOVERLAB on March 12, 2025 was taken on December 24, 2019. We can prove this through the photo’s metadata, as we possess the original. The photo revealed once again on March 13 was taken on the same day. All of the photos revealed by HOVERLAB were taken after Kim Sae Ron became an adult.

Despite HOVERLAB’s claims that there are multiple photos of the two taken in 2016, when Kim Sae Ron was a minor, such photos do not exist because they were not dating in 2016. The letter that Kim Soo Hyun addressed to Kim Sae Ron during his mandatory service was a private letter sent to a close acquaintance. As the letter has shown, Kim Soo Hyun was adjusting to life in the military while sharing his day to day activities with his close acquaintance. However, in order to fabricate the story that Kim Soo Hyun dated Kim Sae Ron since 2015, HOVERLAB falsely claimed that photos taken after Kim Sae Ron had become an adult were taken while she was still a minor. The YouTube channel also purposely revealed a postcard sent by Kim Soo Hyun while he was still dating Kim Sae Ron along with the letter he sent during his military service to make it seem as if the letter was also a love letter, when this was not the case. Furthermore, the nickname Saero Nero is a nickname that Kim Sae Ron has used publicly since 2016, not a nickname used only by Kim Soo Hyun.Many people are currently criticizing Kim Soo Hyun for his relationship with Kim Sae Ron. Although a relationship between two adults is a matter of privacy, as a public figure, Kim Soo Hyun’s private life is bound to receive criticism from the masses, and this is a fact that must be accepted.

However, HOVERLAB is currently spreading misinformation and lies indiscriminately. The individual who provided HOVERLAB with the information that formed the basis of the YouTube channel’s claims has stated that they are Kim Sae Ron’s relative. Yet, according to one media outlet, this individual is an acquaintance of Kim Sae Ron’s mother, not her relative. The YouTube channel is fabricating unconfirmed rumors based on information provided by an individual whose identity cannot be verified. Because of this outsider, the privacy of both Kim Soo Hyun and Kim Sae Ron has been severely violated. The spread of these baseless rumors and speculations is detrimental not only to Kim Soo Hyun and Kim Sae Ron, but also their families and loved ones. Kim Soo Hyun is under no impression that he can go on avoiding the criticism and judgment of the public now that matters related to his private life have been publicized. However, a normal relationship between two adults has somehow become a sensationalized story at the hands of others with no direct involvement. Personal attacks based on unconfirmed stories of this degree are too much for a single person. Not to mention, these actions are severely defaming the deceased. 

[Kim Soo Hyun did not ignore Kim Sae Ron’s financial hardships.]According to HOVERLAB, Kim Soo Hyun is the devil responsible for Kim Sae Ron’s death. The YouTube channel claimed that Gold Medalist pressured Kim Sae Ron to pay off the debt incurred after her DUI accident, and that when Kim Sae Ron sought Kim Soo Hyun’s help, Kim Soo Hyun ignored her requests. These claims led to the speculations that Kim Sae Ron had no choice but to end her own life. All of this is false. In fact, Gold Medalist paid off the remaining debt that Kim Sae Ron could not handle in its full amount.After her DUI accident, Gold Medalist worked with Kim Sae Ron to resolve all fees and damages, including the damages incurred by the businesses who were affected by the accident. The total damages amounted to approximately 1.114 billion KRW (~ $765,000 USD). Gold Medalist did all we could to reduce the amount that Kim Sae Ron had to pay off herself. Through the efforts of Gold Medalist and Kim Sae Ron, the damages were reduced to 700 million KRW (~ $481,000 USD). The repair and sale of Kim Sae Ron’s vehicle was among the efforts to reduce the total amount in damages. This was done by Gold Medalist under Kim Sae Ron’s consent. Contrary to the claims by HOVERLAB, Gold Medalist did not steal Kim Sae Ron’s vehicle to pay off her debt. Despite Kim Sae Ron’s efforts, she could not continue her work after the accident and was incapable of paying off the remaining debt. Determining that Kim Sae Ron could not pay off her debt, Gold Medalist indemnified her debt amount in December of 2023. This information can be verified by Gold Medalists’s tax statement submitted on April 1, 2024, which lists Kim Sae Ron’s debt as irrecoverable debt. 

Naturally, Gold Medalist and Kim Sae Ron underwent the proper legal procedures required for these debt payments. This was to prevent any illegalities associated with the lending of money to an individual for business purposes without any interest or security. In early 2024, Gold Medalist had to decide how to handle Kim Sae Ron’s debt. According to accounting experts, if Gold Medalist simply paid off the actress’s debt in her place without holding the actress legally responsible, it could result in repercussions associated with illegal business practices. Therefore, Gold Medalist had to prove that Kim Sae Ron was ‘incapable’ of paying her debt at the time, while also proving that the company had taken measures to secure negotiable bonds with Kim Sae Ron.The legal notice sent to Kim Sae Ron during this time was a legal process necessary in order to prove that Kim Sae Ron was not being freed of her debt at no cost, and that Gold Medalist was not illegally resolving the debt in her place.

The text message sent by Kim Sae Ron on March 19, 2024 also involved the verification of this legal notice. In other words, Kim Soo Hyun has never once lent Kim Sae Ron money nor has he ever attempted to retrieve any lent money from her. When Kim Sae Ron contacted Kim Soo Hyun for assistance regarding her debt, Gold Medalist was unaware of their relationship. They had already broken up by that time.

Therefore, Gold Medalist advised that Kim Soo Hyun refrain from responding without the assistance of a legal expert. Gold Medalist intended to resolve the matter with Kim Sae Ron by enlisting the assistance of experts. Afterward, on March 26, 2024, Kim Sae Ron confirmed through her legal representative that she acknowledged the debt owed to Gold Medalist and that she was willing to negotiate her method of repayment with Gold Medalist. As a result, Gold Medalist was able to resolve Kim Sae Ron’s debt legally, and we not demanded any amount of repayment from Kim Sae Ron since then.It is quite unreasonable to link these events, which occurred approximately a year ago, as the cause of the actress’s death. Gold Medalist attempted to assist Kim Sae Ron through all legally acceptable methods. Gold Medalist also decided on no interest and no losses over time for the actress’s debt amount, resolved by the company as irrecoverable debt. A year later, we are being condemned for our efforts, made to seem as if the company had pressured Kim Sae Ron into her unfortunate decision. 

[Who will benefit from the nonconsensual exposure of these individuals’ privacies?]Photos taken as adults suddenly became photos taken at 16. An unidentified acquaintance of the deceased’s mother suddenly became her aunt. A photo that cannot help but attract attention was used to distort its context and narrative. One text message made it seem as if a company’s efforts to assist an artist was sent as a threatening text. The debt that Gold Medalist worked with Kim Sae Ron to resolve has now become the reason for her death. And within this storyline, Kim Soo Hyun has been identified as the main instigator of a tragic ending. The distortion of facts and the erasure of context has made it possible for an individual to be labeled a criminal, and once someone becomes a criminal, all of their actions are subject to punishment.

HOVERLAB continues to claim that Kim Soo Hyun dated Kim Sae Ron when she was 16. These claims are then exacerbated through countless news reports, all published without properly checking the facts. It is nearly impossible for an individual who has been labeled as a public criminal to refute all of the lies one by one. If that individual were to try, it would require immense time and effort. But all the while, they will continue to suffer irreparable damages.The photos revealed by HOVERLAB were in fact taken by Kim Soo Hyun and Kim Sae Ron. That does not mean that every accusation made by HOVERLAB is true. Many people are suffering due to the YouTube channel’s unconfirmed claims. Just because Kim Soo Hyun is a public figure, that does not mean that he must sit by idly while countless lies are fabricated about him, nor should he endure the flood of personal attacks against him without response. Kim Soo Hyun will acknowledge the responsibilities associated with the nonconsensual exposure of his private life, that which has already been publicized and that which may be publicized from now on. However, we would like to ask if it is truly the right of the public to go on gaining unchecked access to an individual’s privacy without that person’s consent as has been the case this past week.”