South Korean Actor Kim Soo-hyun Breaks Down While Denying He Groomed Kim Sae-ron

South Korean actor Kim Soo-hyun is defending himself against accusations he groomed late actress Kim Sae-ron when she was underage, getting emotional as he spoke about all the drama at a press conference.

Kim Soo-hyun sat before media in Seoul on Monday to address the allegations hurled at him by Kim Sae-ron’s family that he groomed her during their relationship beginning in 2016, when she was just 15 and he was 28. The family’s attorney said text messages between the two confirm the relationship. Back in February, Sae-ron died at 24 in what police say was a suicide.

During Monday’s presser, Kim Soo-hyun admitted he dated Kim Sae-ron for about a year starting around 2020, but denied that she was a minor. According to reports, Kim Sae-ron was born in July 2000, which would have made her 19 or 20 at the time. In South Korea, the age of consent is 16.

Kim Soo-hyun said, “I did not date the deceased when she was a minor. And, it is also not true that the deceased made a tragic choice because of me turning a blind eye,” referring to Sae-ron taking her own life. Soo-hyun also shed tears as he said he could not “admit what is not true.”

Furthermore, Soo-hyun said his attorneys filed a lawsuit against YouTubers who spread false information about his relationship with Sae-ron — notably screenshots of messages he claims were not written by the actress.

He also reported the YouTubers to the South Korean authorities for defamation and violating the country’s Personal Information Protection Act.