The so-called "Kim Soo Hyun Prevention Act," a bill to raise the age for statutory rape involving minors and to strengthen punishment, has surpassed 50,000 signatures on the national petition platform.

According to the National Assembly’s electronic petition site on the 7th, the petition titled "Kim Soo Hyun Prevention Act," which was posted on March 31, had received 51,083 signatures as of 5 p.m. that day. A National Assembly petition must receive 50,000 signatures within 30 days of being posted to be forwarded to the relevant committee. Afterward, the committee will decide within 90 days whether to refer it to the plenary session for discussion. Since the petition met the requirement, it is expected to be reviewed by the relevant committee. The committee will examine whether it should proceed to the plenary session.

The petitioner wrote, “Recently, the grooming sex crime committed by Hallyu star Kim Soo Hyun against child actress Kim Sae Ron—who was a minor at the time—has come to light, enraging the public,” and added, “Unfortunately, statutory rape laws currently only protect children aged 13 to under 16, which means Kim Soo Hyun cannot be legally punished.”

The petitioner criticized this limitation, saying, “South Korean law clearly defines minors as those under 18, yet the statutory rape law only protects those aged 13 to under 16, allowing pedophiles to escape legal consequences.” They called for the law to be revised under the name “Kim Soo Hyun Prevention Act” to prevent such incidents from recurring.

The petition proposes the following revisions:

— Raise the age range covered by statutory rape laws from the current 13–15 years old to 13–18 years old (i.e., under 19).

— Change the punishment from the current fines for molestation and a minimum of 2 years imprisonment for rape, to a minimum of 2 years imprisonment for molestation and a minimum of 5 years imprisonment for rape.

Meanwhile, Kim Soo Hyun is under suspicion of having dated the late Kim Sae Ron while she was still a minor. The bereaved families of both sides continue to issue conflicting statements in a dispute over the truth.

On March 31, Kim Soo Hyun held a press conference at the Stanford Hotel in Sangam-dong, Seoul, and stated, “I did not have a relationship with the deceased while she was a minor.”