Many Korean netizens were unconvinced by actor Kim Soo Hyun's official statement released on March 14 KST, denying that he dated the late actress Kim Sae Ron when she was still a minor. Instead, Kim Soo Hyun's side claimed that the two began dating in summer of 2019 and broke up around autumn of 2020.
According to KakaoTalk messages revealed by HOVERLAB, Kim Sae Ron herself described her relationship with Kim Soo Hyun as follows:
"The news reports are claiming that the dating rumors [between Kim Sae Ron and Kim Soo Hyun] are false, but this is not true. The photo shared on my Instagram story was taken in 2016. We dated between November 19, 2015, and July 7, 2021."
However, the statement released by Kim Soo Hyun and Gold Medalist said,
"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."
Many netizens criticized this inconsistency, pointing out that Gold Medalist had initially denied any relationship with Kim Sae Ron entirely in 2024. Some angrily accused Kim Soo Hyun's side of "making Kim Sae Ron out to be a liar."
Furthermore, Gold Medalist also argued,
"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."
Yet, according to netizens, the t-shirt worn by Kim Sae Ron in the photo above was released "prior to September 2014."
Next, netizens also pointed to the mole above Kim Soo Hyun's left eyebrow in the same photo.
Based on netizens' claims, Kim Soo Hyun had this mole since his early debut days.
He then began to remove the mole around 2014, but it reappeared in 2017. It's suspected that the removal procedure was completed during or around the time of the actor's mandatory military service, carried out between October of 2017 and July of 2019.
If this is true, then Kim Soo Hyun should not have the mole above his left eyebrow in any photos he took with Kim Sae Ron, if they did in fact date between summer of 2019 and autumn of 2020.
Regarding another set of photos revealed by HOVERLAB between March 12-13, Kim Soo Hyun's side stated,
"The photo 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."
One Chinese netizen came forward to refute Gold Medalist's above claims. According to this netizen,
"The glasses worn by Kim Soo Hyun when he kissed Kim Sae Ron was a gift from a Chinese fan, given in 2015. There is a leopard print pattern on the inside. Kim Sae Ron was not an adult in 2015."
Yet, based on Gold Medalist's statement, Kim Soo Hyun and Kim Sae Ron only began dating after Kim Sae Ron became an adult and after Kim Soo Hyun completed his mandatory military enlistment, in late 2019.
Many netizens could not hide their frustration and anger over the numerous inconsistencies between Kim Soo Hyun's claims and the content exposed by HOVERLAB, commenting,
"Is he literally saying that Kim Sae Ron lied? Stop sullying the name of the deceased."
"He wasn't just responsible for her death, he is killing her over and over again in a desperate attempt to save himself."
"Hurting Sae Ron until the very end.. Seriously, apologize and disappear from the face of this earth you scum."
"Everything that comes out of your mouth is nothing but filthy lies."
"Pretty sure they took that t-shirt argument from some community post that got it wrong lol."
"That entire statement was just cowardly and absurd."
"All that text and not a single apology, not a single word mourning her even though they dated."
"That mole is so prominent in the picture. I can't unsee it."
"Now watch him go get that mole tattooed on so he can argue that he still had it in 2019."
"It's literally the end if Chinese fans turn on you."
"I can't wait to see what kind of explanation he comes up with for those glasses."
"Let's see him appear in front of a camera wearing those leopard print glasses."
"He is so vile Satan is scared of him."
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