Police have reportedly concluded that the rumor claiming Kim Soo Hyun dated the late Kim Sae Ron when she was a minor was false.
According to a May 21 report by JoongAng Ilbo, Seoul Gangnam Police Station requested an arrest warrant for Kim Se Ui, the CEO of Garo Sero Research Institute, on charges related to defaming actor Kim Soo Hyun.
The warrant request reportedly states that Kim Se Ui spread false information about Kim Soo Hyun for financial reasons, including YouTube profits.
Police also reportedly stated that Kim Se Ui knew Kim Soo Hyun had not dated the late actress when she was a minor, but still shared the claim with the purpose of damaging his reputation.
Police reportedly found that the messenger conversations Kim Se Ui revealed last March as alleged proof of the relationship had been fabricated.
According to the report, Kim Se Ui received 11 screenshots from the bereaved family showing conversations the late actress had with a person listed as “unknown” in 2016.
Police believe he edited seven parts of the material, including changing the other person’s name to Kim Soo Hyun, to make it look like an actual conversation between the two actors.
Police also reportedly believe that a voice recording of the late actress, which Kim Se Ui’s side released last May, was created or manipulated using artificial intelligence technology.
The lawyer representing the bereaved family has also reportedly been booked by investigators. Police believe the lawyer provided materials to Kim Se Ui and helped spread, expand, and reproduce false claims in an organized and planned way.
Kim Soo Hyun’s lawyer, Go Sang Rok, previously stated on social media on May 20 that Kim Soo Hyun’s side did not file a complaint against the bereaved family’s lawyer.
He said investigators appeared to have found possible accomplice charges and changed the lawyer’s status to a suspect. He added that it is “very unusual” for a suspect’s lawyer to be recognized as an accomplice and then become a suspect.
Police reportedly wrote in the warrant request that the case seriously damaged Kim Soo Hyun’s social foundation, career, and economic activities.
They also noted that Kim Soo Hyun is still receiving psychiatric treatment, and warned that continued spreading of false claims could cause serious harm that would be difficult to recover from.
Kim Se Ui, however, denied the claims and argued that the arrest warrant request was an attempt to block his reporting.
During a live broadcast, he claimed he had planned to travel to Hanoi, Vietnam, for additional coverage of a sexual crime case involving a powerful political figure, and said the warrant was suddenly requested to stop his reporting.
[1]
