Kim Soo Hyun’s Agency Denies Forcing Kim Sae Ron to Repay Debt + Responds to Seo Ye Ji Rumors

Kim Soo Hyun’s agency has released another lengthy statement to address the mounting allegations against the actor.

Previously, Gold Medalist released a statement on Friday, March 14 as the public criticism grew. The agency confirmed that Kim Soo Hyun dated the late Kim Sae Ron, however, they denied claims that they began dating when she was a minor. Gold Medalist revealed that the two dated between 2018 and 2019 after Kim Sae Ron turned 18.

Additionally, there were claims that the agency sent a certified letter to demand repayment of 700 million won. The aforementioned amount was paid by the agency when the “Bloodhounds” actress was involved in a drunk driving incident.

On Tuesday, March 18, the agency released a statement to deny claims that they forced Kim Sae Ron to repay debt. They previously stated that sending a certified letter to Kim Sae Ron was a standard procedure to avoid embezzlement. Additionally, they never intended for the amount to be returned and were just following standard protocols.

The statement released today states

Regarding Allegations of Forced Debt Payment  

During the press conference, the bereaved family claimed that the second content certification sent by our company on March 25, 2024, stated that “if similar photos (to those posted on March 24) were uploaded on SNS, if Kim Saeron contacted any of the actors in the agency, or if Queen of Tears suffered financial damage, she would have to compensate the full amount.” To clarify this, we have attached the original text of the content certification to this statement.

As you can see in the document, at no point did we demand compensation from Kim Saeron for any financial damage to a project. It is also impossible to claim damages simply because someone uploads a photo on SNS or contacts an actor from our agency.

The reason we sent the second content certification was to provide Kim Saeron with a clearer explanation of the situation. As stated in our previous statement, our company had determined that the outstanding debt owed by Kim Saeron was ‘unrecoverable.’ By declaring this, we intended to write off the debt as a bad
debt and ensure that our executives were not at risk of breach of fiduciary duty. To notify Kim Saeron of this, we sent her the first content certification via mail on March 15, 2024.

However, as has been widely reported, Kim Saeron later sent a text message to Kim Soohyun regarding this matter and then posted photos of the two of them on SNS on March 24. The content certification sent by our company on March 25 was intended to address any concerns Kim Saeron might have had, explain the reason for requesting repayment, and express our willingness to discuss repayment terms in a forward-looking manner.
As stated in the attached second content certification, we clearly explained to Kim Saeron that “if our company does not request repayment of the loan despite its due date, our executives could be at risk of facing breach of fiduciary duty charges.” Additionally, we stated that we were willing to discuss “the method and timing of debt repayment in a forward-looking manner.”

Excerpt from Gold Medalist’s Legal Firm Content Certification
The bereaved family has claimed that the second content certification essentially stated that the deceased was given a deadline and was required to repay the debt. However, as previously explained, the second content certification simply conveyed that our company was willing to discuss the method and timing of debt repayment in a forward-looking manner and asked Kim Saeron to inform her legal representative of a feasible repayment schedule. There was no demand or pressure to repay the debt.

The reason the phrase “Infor your legal representative of a feasible repayment schedule” was included is that the purpose of the content certification itself was to establish proof that “despite requesting debt repayment, the debt could not be recovered.” Therefore, it was not possible to include a statement such as “you do not need to repay the debt.” If our company had explicitly stated that repayment was not required, it would have legally constituted debt forgiveness. This could have led to a gift tax issue for Kim Saeron.

In fact, on March 26, the day after the second content certification was sent, our company’s legal representative communicated with Kim Saeron’s management agency to explain the purpose of the mailed document. In response, Kim Saeron expressed through the second content certification that she was grateful for the consideration our company had shown her in the past and that she fully intended to take responsibility for the damages incurred. She stated her willingness to discuss and coordinate the final determination of the amount she was liable for and to establish a repayment plan through negotiations.

Excerpt from Legal Content Certification for Kim Aim (formerly Kim Saeron)
As stated in our previous statment, the financial obligations between our company and Kim Sae Ron have been settled. We would like to calrify once again that after this, our company did not make any further demands for repayment or engage in any discussions regarding the matter. Instead, we immediately wrote off the entire outstanding amount as a bad debt in our financial records (as reflected in our audit report on April 1 2024).

This shows that from the very beginning, our comapny had no intention of pressuring the late Kim Saeron into repayment. Additionally, neither the late Kim Saeron nor her family made any further attempts to settle the debt.

Furthermore, the financial matters between our company and Kim Saeron fall solely under our company’s jurisdiction. Kim Soohyun has no authority to make statements on this issue. For this reason, we formally requested in the legal notice that Kim Saeron refrain from contacting Kim Soohyun regarding the debt. In the notice, we clarified that debt repayment is not the responsibility of individual employees or actors but is strictly a company matter. We specifically requested that she avoid contacting any company employees or actors regarding the debt and instead communicate with our company’s designated legal representatives. Naturally, the notice contained no mention of any penalties if she contacted our company’s actors.

Despite this, Gaseyeon distorted the meaning of our request in their March 17 report, falsely claiming that we were “threatening her not to contact Kim Soohyun or anyone at Gold Medalist.” However, our company never made such demands, and even after this, Kim Saeron remained free to communicate with our actors.
When Kim Saeron uploaded a photo on SNS on March 24, Kim Soohyun’s drama Queen of Tears was airing. Within hours-between 2:14 AM (when the photo was posted) and 11:00 AM (when our company issued an official response)-more than 50 news articles had already surfaced. Given this, we needed to inform Kim Saeron that such unexpected actions could impact the drama’s production team, cast, staff, broadcasting station, and streaming platforms. Once again, we emphasize that at no point did we pressure her regarding financial compensation.

Response Regarding YouTuber Lee Jinho
Kim Saeron’s contract with Gold Medalist expired in November 2022. Afterward, she continued her career with a different entertainment agency. The manager whom Gaseyeon claimed was affiliated with YouTuber Lee Jinho was actually an employee of that agency, not Gold Medalist. However, Gaseyeon deliberately used vague wording in their press conference saying that they were “at the stage of verifying whether this manager is from Kim Soohyun’s agency”-in order to avoid legal liability while distorting the facts.

Response to False Claims Regarding Actress Seo Yeji
In their March 17 report, Gaseyeon falsely alleged based on an anonymous tip-that our company had colluded with the media to defame Seo Yeji. This is completely untrue. In fact, the manager who was in charge of Seo Yeji at that time (but has since left the company) was so shocked by this claim that they personally contacted us to express their disbelief. We strongly urge Gaseyeon to stop spreading baseless rumors without any evidence or accountability.

Request for the Family to Stop Spreading False Information
The late Kim Saeron’s family has continued to spread false claims against both Gold Medalist and Kim Soohyun. For instance, they alleged that our company did not attend Kim Saeron’s funeral. However, we visited the funeral hall on both February 17 and February 19, 2025, where we personally expressed our condolences to the bereaved family and left funeral wreaths
and condolence money.

Gold Medalist’s Funeral Wreath for the Late Kim Saeron
Gaseyeon referred to the person who leaked Kim Soohyun’s private life as “Kim Saeron’s aunt.” However, news reports have since confirmed that this informant is not actually her aunt. During today’s press conference, the bereaved family stated, “(The deceased’s) mother does not have a married sister. More than anyone else, the person who was like a real mother to Saeron was the same ‘aunt’ who recently gave an interview. They also described her as “more of an aunt than her real aunt.”

When someone refers to themselves as an “aunt” in the media, the general public naturally assumes they are a biological sibling of the mother. Whether the informant is actually a blood relative or just a close acquaintance could affect public trust in the information. However, during the press conference, the bereaved family was vague about whether the informant was a real relative or simply a family friend. In fact, several industry insiders have recently informed us that this informant is actually the mother of another actor.

The key issue in this situation is not the identity of the informant but whether their claims are true. We fully acknowledge this. However, we bring up the informant’s background because the bereaved family stated in the press conference that “targeting someone’s family is a huge mistake,” despite the fact that they themselves publicly leaked a private photo of Kim Soohyun.

The photo in question is of a house that Kim Saeron acquired after she became an adult, as revealed in a past broadcast she appeared in. It has nothing to do with the timeline of their alleged relationship, which the bereaved family claims. Nevertheless, under the justification that “targeting someone’s family is a huge mistake,” they still chose to expose Kim Soohyun’s private life without permission.

Gaseyeon not only repeatedly hinted at the release of this photo in advance but also exaggerated its significance using provocative language. The bereaved family has cited sensationalized reports about Kim Saeron’s private life as one of the reasons for her passing. If that is the case, then what exactly are the bereaved family and Gaseyeon doing to Kim Soohyun right now?

Gaseyeon further claimed on their YouTube channel that a photo uploaded on June 23, 2017, by a fan-run SNS account for Kim Saeron proves that Kim Soohyun was in a relationship with her when she was a minor. However, the person in the photo is not Kim Soohyun but someone else. Gaseyeon argued that the clothing worn by the person in the picture resembled an item that Kim Soohyun once advertised. However, the clothing in the photo and the one Kim Soohyun promoted are actually from different brands.

The person in the photo uploaded to Kim Saeron’s fan SNS account is not Kim Soohyun.
Since the photo from the fan account started gaining attention, we initially believed it was unnecessary to respond to baseless claims based on an image where even the person’s face is unidentifiable. However, the bereaved family has now used this faceless photo to make new claims that Kim Soohyun frequently visited the apartment where Kim Saeron lived with her family when she was a minor and that they secretly met when her family was not home.

Kim Soohyun has never been to the location where Gaseyeon personally visited and pointed to, saying, “This is the elevator.” The only ones who went there were Gaseyeon-not Kim Soohyun.

Furthermore, the bereaved family exposed Kim Soohyun’s private life without consent, citing the mention of someone “closer than a real aunt.” Despite this, they had never previously claimed that Kim Soohyun frequently visited Kim Saeron’s family home when she was a minor or that they met in secret. It was only after the fan account’s photo surfaced that they suddenly started making these allegations.

We urge you to stop using a single unrelated photo or any random online post-to create false narratives that have nothing to do with the actual matter at hand.

Gold Medalist, March 18, 2025

Meanwhile, Gold Medalist has denied various allegations surrounding Kim Soo Hyun and Kim Sae Ron, and will take strong legal action against what it calls “defamation based on false facts”. Despite the agency having repeatedly refuted the claim, the “Queen of Tears” actors continue to receive backlash from netizens. Many brands have cut ties with him, in addition, his appearance in MBC’s variety show “Good Day” is minimized. Adding to the controversy are claims that Kim Soo Hyun and his cousin Lee Sa Rang framed Seo Ye Ji, who was his labelmate and “It’s Okay to Be Not Okay” co-star, as a bully.