Some netizens have compiled evidence.
The ongoing controversy involving actor Kim Soo Hyun and his alleged relationship with Kim Sae Ron has significantly damaged the former’s public image, putting his career at a huge disadvantage.
While public opinion seemed unanimously against Kim Soo Hyun at the initial phase of the controversy, over the past few days, many netizens have noticed an uptick in supposed fan accounts posting positive comments about the actor on the internet, inviting rage and criticism from others.
Amid this situation, news reports and netizens’ own investigations have revealed a strong possibility that many of the supportive comments in favor of Kim Soo Hyun might be paid for. Recently, KNN News, an affiliated news network of SBS, reported on this issue, pointing out that several of the comments supporting the actor appeared to have been copied and pasted across the internet.
Netizens also provided a convincing compilation of articles posted across different platforms that were too similar in content and language to be coincidental. The articles were aimed at prompting public sympathy for the actor by either discussing his current state of being or mentioning his past charitable deeds.
“It feels a bit strange to see Kim Soo Hyun in bad spirits…” [T/N: All the headlines above are verbatim the same. The article was posted across various platforms, with the content talking about how he was unable to even get out of his car and looked like he was dazed. Notably, the articles were posted on different fan communities on DC Gallery, including Girls Planet 999, Mister Trot, and League of Legends.]
Headlines 1-2: “The public opinion is all on Kim Soo Hyun’s side.”
Headlines 3-5: “The public opinion is all on Kim Soo Hyun’s side. Only the ahjummas here are living in a different world”
Headlines: Kim Soo Hyun is an actor who donated [krw[ 300 million to the Sewol Ferry Disaster Relief Project. He couldn’t have had any intention of extorting money…
Subheadings: It seems that he was really unaware about the financial issues between Gold Medalist and Kim Sae Ron
Netizens also presented another interesting screenshot where a community site user seemed to have forgotten to switch profiles and ended up responding to their own positive post about Kim Soo Hyun, pretending to be someone else.
JB: Is it true that Kim Soo Hyun donated [krw] 300 million to the Sewol Ferry relief fund? Wow…it’s unexpected.
Comment (From the same account): Yeah, I know right?
These instances have prompted rising suspicions about Kim Soo Hyun and his agency engaging in media manipulation through click farms or similar paid services.
- “Many comments are shielding him on YouTube and Instagram, but they all sound strange. Isn’t it easy to create an account and just hang around at places where common people interact often?”
- “It’s so disgusting. Since he can’t provide evidence against his pedophilia accusations, he’s doing all sorts of things and failing. LOL.
- “This media manipulation also seems to be trying to reverse the narrative by making people believe Lee Jin Ho’s side of the story.”
- “This is so ugly.”
- “Ugh…I really hate this. I hate everything even more now. I hope I don’t have to see him anymore.”
- “Gold Medalist really isn’t doing a good job. Do they gather all these people and pay them minimum wage to work? Their initial response looked clumsy and stupid to me. But it turns out they’re consistently clumsy and stupid, LOL.”
Meanwhile, Kim Soo Hyun’s agency has reportedly hired three separate crisis management teams to handle the situation. Read more about it here:
