South Korean actor Kim Soo Hyun's talent agency, Gold Medalist, has confirmed that he and the late South Korean actress Kim Sae Ron became engaged.
In a statement released on Friday, the agency said that Soo Hyun and Sae Ron did date but clarified that this happened after Sae Ron became a legal adult, not when he was still a minor.
The management also denied accusations that Soo Hyun's agency allegedly forced Kim Sae Ron to pay 700 million won (about ₱27 million) and even presented evidence to support it.
Sae Ron passed away on February 16, 2025.
The full statement is as follows:
“Kim Soo Hyun and Kim Sae Ron had a relationship from the summer of 2019, after Kim Sae Ron became a legal adult, until the fall of 2020. It is not true that Kim Soo Hyun dated Kim Sae Ron when she was a minor.
“The photos posted by Kim Sae Ron on her Instagram Stories on March 24, 2024, and those shown on HoverLab's broadcast on March 11, 2025, are private moments between the two in the winter of 2020.
“The clothing Kim Sae Ron is wearing in the photos was released by a brand in June 2019, so HoverLab's claim that the photos were taken in 2016, when Kim Sae Ron was still a minor, cannot be true.
“The two’s extremely private lives were forcibly exposed by others, causing great pain not only to Kim Soo Hyun but also to those close to them. After their private lives were exposed through HoverLab, it was inevitable that the public would have different opinions on Kim Soo Hyun’s decisions.
“However, the days of two adults who dated and broke up were twisted by others, causing many lies to spread until now. It is very painful for a person to endure this just because of his private life. Moreover, it seems like an intrusion into the private life of the deceased and damages his name.”
