Kim Soohyun's side stated a firm position regarding the case involving the late Kim Saeron, saying "The real issue in this case is evidence fabrication. This entire incident is a large-scale fraud crime against the public that destroyed the reputation of an innocent victim."
On the 27th, attorney Go Sangrok as Kim Soohyun's legal representative posted an official statement on his blog, addressing and denying claims made by the late Kim Saeron's family point by point.
Attorney Go said in the post, "The cause of her death was reported to be suicide. Based on what is known, she had married an American man in January this year, with the hope of a better life, but the marriage failed. Furthermore, her pan to open a cafe after returning to South Korea also fell apart. She appears to have fallen into deep despair." He continued, "Boo Jiseok, the lawyer of her family, stated in a press conference that the late Kim Saeron had numerous self-harm attempts that even her family was not fully aware of, which aligns with the facts that we have gathered. Her final attempt at self-harm, which happened after many tries, is what eventually led her to death."
He added that her misfortune began after the late Kim Saeron's DUI incident in 2022, saying, "It has been confirmed by various documents that she was cut off by her family during this period. She no longer expected comfort or support from her family, as her emotional connection with her family was already broken. Furthermore, if the family was not aware that their daughter had repeatedly harmed herself that she was in danger, it can be concluded that the family relationship had truly broken down a long time ago."
He further explained, "According to a testimony from her ex-boyfriend last March, she suffered greatly because of verbal abuse and physical violence from her American husband she married before she died. He also testified that she was most hurt by the indifference of her family, with whom she had essentially cut ties, leading her to feel very hopeless about her situation. According to the ex-boyfriend, on 1 November 2024, just two months before her death, the late Kim Saeron severed a wrist ligament due to self-harm, requiring an emergency surgery. Even though her family was called, no one showed up." The attorney added, "We have already confirmed other evidence that support the fact that similar incidents had been happening for more than two years after the 2022 DUI accident."
Attorney Go also brought up what the 'fake aunt' figure had claimed, saying, "An acquaintance whose name is unknown claimed that the late Kim Saeron tried to harm herself on January 8th of this year, and that she and the family took care of her.' However, that is completely false. The late Kim Saeron was actually in the U.S. Documents show that she was registering her marriage on that very day. Almost 100% of what this person has said so far is a lie," and he pointed out that this person is now completely silent.
Attorney Go pointed out, "The fact that the family didn't know the she got married shows that the family relationship was broken. If they did find out about the marriage (later on), and still lied by saying 'we didn't know that fact,' there is only one reason why." He continued, "They needed to shift the blame for her death away from the family or the husband and onto an innocent man who had nothing to do with it."
Attorney Go then demanded, "Submit all the conversations from the group chat room you mentioned on air to the investigative authorities. If they claim that 'everyone deleted the chat at the same time,' the public will not find it convincing. Even if everyone did delete it, all conversation records can be recovered by using digital forensics on just one participant's cell phone." He then addressed the person claiming to be the late Kim Saeron's aunt, "You said that 'when the late Kim Saeron was in high school, you knew she was dating Kim Soohyun because so many letters came from the military.' If that is true, please show all the other letters to the public or give them all to the police, not just the one letter you showed. If you try to claim you only kept one letter and destroyed all the rest, the public will not find that convincing either."
Attorney Go also asked the late Kim Saeorn's parents, "After hearing the audio recording from the May 7th press conference, the late Kim Saeron's friends reportedly said, 'Shew was not the kind of person who would say such profanity.' So, is the voice in the public audio recording really your daughter's voice? Also, is the daughter you remember someone who would borrow a few hundred dollars at a cafe from a man she just saw again after nearly 10 years, a man who was not even a close friend? And would the daughter you knew answer all his questions and talk about her sexual relationships as a teenager, using vulgar language? Is that truly the real person your daughter was, as you, her parents, remember her?"
Attorney Go emphasized again, "The main issue in this case is 'destroying a person's reputation by faking evidence.' They used false information and manipulated audio files to damage the reputation of an innocent victim." He further defined it as 'an international-scale cybercrime' as this incident has spread to foreign news, damaging trust in the entire Hallyu industry as a whole."
He urged, ""The government must clearly see what this case is really about and thoroughly uncover the truth behind the fake evidence and conspiracy. The people responsible must be punished in a way that matches how widely their actions have spread around the world." He concluded the post by saying, "Now, we cannot protect our good name by staying silent. Do not agree with the false stories they are creating. Please stand with us so that the innocent victim can return to their proper place."
news nate
[+1,332][-695] What's truly chilling is the fact that not a single person has apologized to Kim Soohyun for misunderstanding him as a child groomer. All the comments are just people blaming others or refusing to believe itㄷㄷ
[+1,015][-573] When I first saw the news, the story was very shocking, and since the person who died was named as the victim of something that happened when she was a minor, I immediately thought, 'I knew Kim Soohyun was that kind of person.' But after that, when I saw the news and the things they called 'evidence,' it all looked fake and messy, like it had been totally made up. I felt sorry for misunderstanding and leaving comments based on misinformation... I hope the truth comes out and those people who acted like parents but aren’t deserving of the title get exposed.
[+638][-390] Kim Soo hyun is completely the victim here. The people who are still leaving mean comments absolutely deserve to be sued. The attorney is telling them to show all that so-called evidence of him dating her when she was a minor, but they can't show it because it doesn't exist. I hope all of the perpetrators’ disgusting actions are fully exposed through investigation, and that Kim Soohyun returns stronger and shines even brighter.
[+532][-245] The KakaoTalk messages from 2016 and 2018 were all fake evidence (the person in the messages wasn’t Kim Soohyun). Kim Saeron's statement was also fake (the photo they claimed was proof from 2016 was actually from 2020). In conclusion, they did not date when she was underage. Despite this, Garo Sero Research Institute and her family made fake claims using this faked evidence. The police need to conduct a full search and thorough investigation.
[+172][-86] Kim Saeron’s family was manipulated by Garo Sero Research Institute’s strategy. Kim Soohyun must feel wronged. The true villain is Garo Sero Research Institute.
