Forensic agency unable to determine AI manipulation of audio file related to Kim Soo-hyun
Kim Soo-hyun / Hankook Ilbo
South Korea’s National Forensic Service has concluded that it is unable to determine whether an audio recording released by the YouTube channel Garo Sero Research Institute was manipulated using artificial intelligence (AI), police said.
The recording, which was made public in May, is allegedly of the late actor Kim Sae-ron claiming that she dated actor Kim Soo-hyun while she was a minor. The National Forensic Service informed Gangnam Police Station in Seoul last month that it reached an “undetermined” conclusion regarding possible manipulation of the file.
The agency conducted an analysis of the audio at the request of police but said it could not determine whether the recording had been altered due to technical limitations, according to officials.
Kim Sae-ron’s family previously held a press conference with Garo Sero Research Institute in May, alleging that Kim Soo-hyun had been in a relationship with Kim when she was a middle school student. As evidence, the family released part of a recording of a 90-minute conversation Kim had with an acquaintance in New Jersey on Jan. 10, about a month before her death.
In the recording, Kim is heard saying that she dated Kim Soo-hyun from middle school until entering college. She added that, in retrospect, she felt she had been taken advantage of.
Kim Soo-hyun’s side denied the allegations, saying the recording was created using AI or similar technology, and filed a complaint against Kim Se-ui, head of Garo Sero Research Institute, on charges including defamation under the Information and Communications Network Act.
Police referred the recording to the National Forensic Service in August for analysis, and the agency’s assessment was delivered last month.
Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Commissioner Park Jeong-woo said during a regular press briefing that investigations into related parties had concluded and that authorities were in the process of conducting a final analysis of collected materials. He added that the investigation was in its final stages.
This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.