Kim Sae-ron's ex-boyfriend defends Kim Soo-hyun, husband denies abuse allegations
The late actor Kim Sae-ron / Yonhap
A former boyfriend of late actor Kim Sae-ron has stepped forward to dispute growing rumors about her death, saying they unfairly target actor Kim Soo-hyun and distort the truth, The Fact reported Tuesday.
“I know for sure that Sae-ron’s death had nothing to do with Kim Soo-hyun,” he told the outlet in an exclusive interview. “Too many false claims are circulating. I’m angry, and I want at least part of the truth known so Sae-ron can rest in peace.”
His remarks come amid swirling speculation about Kim Sae-ron's former agency, a debt dispute and her past relationship with Kim Soo-hyun. The ex-boyfriend said Kim Sae-ron would not have wanted her death to be tied to false narratives.
The ex-boyfriend said Kim Sae-ron was emotionally torn in the months before her death, caught between him and a man she married in January in New York. After the marriage, Kim Sae-ron confided in her ex-boyfriend, describing the relationship as emotionally abusive. He alleged her husband took her phone, monitored her messages and verbally harassed her.
In a message dated Jan. 13, her husband wrote, “You’re married now, so don’t contact anyone else. Clean up the mess you made. You disgusting idiot.” Kim Sae-ron's ex-boyfriend also said she attempted self-harm multiple times during this period.
The ex-boyfriend said that her pain was unrelated to the 700 million won ($522,000) payment demand from her former agency, which had been raised over a year ago and, he said, seemed largely procedural.
In a Jan. 15 message to her ex-boyfriend, Kim Sae-ron wrote, “I’m sorry. Just curse at me. Call me crazy, call me a lunatic. I keep getting hit and yelled at, but nothing changes. If only you could be happy, I wouldn't ask for anything else, not even dreams. You were the person I loved most in the world.”
She also explained why she had married the man in New York: “I started seeing him in November. At first, it was just loneliness. I needed someone who would listen and help. But soon, he threatened to leak our chat history and photos, hacked my Instagram, hit me and screamed at me. I was terrified. I couldn’t leave, and I was afraid it would hurt you.”
The ex-boyfriend said Kim Sae-ron felt most alone due to what he described as her family’s neglect. On Nov. 1, 2024, after a self-harm incident that required emergency surgery, no family members came to the hospital despite being contacted, he said.
Kim Sae-ron's ex-boyfriend said it was especially painful to see Kim’s aunt, acting as the family’s spokesperson after her death, appear on the YouTube channel Hoverlab and suggest that her death was linked to Kim Soo-hyun.
“How could her family not even know she got married? That alone shows how little communication there was,” the ex-boyfriend said. “Now that she’s gone, dragging up her past with a celebrity seems like it has an agenda. I don’t know Kim Soo-hyun, but blaming him just because he’s famous is incredibly unfair.”
The Fact reported that the ex-boyfriend submitted a signed, fingerprinted affidavit with his name and ID to back up his account. He also provided audio recordings of conversations and documents from a hospital in Gangnam where Kim Sae-ron was treated after her self-harm attempt.
Actor Kim Soo-hyun / Courtesy of Gold Medalist
Kim’s husband speaks out
Hours after The Fact’s report, the YouTube channel Hoverlab released a copy of Kim Sae-ron’s marriage certificate, along with a statement from a man claiming to be her husband.
“Too many distorted facts have been spread by certain groups, severely damaging both the late Kim Sae-ron’s and my own reputation. I decided to release this statement to set the record straight,” he said.
According to the statement, the two met through an acquaintance in mid-November last year and married in the United States on Jan. 12. However, he said they had made the decision without careful consideration and were in the process of annulling the marriage by mutual agreement due to long-distance challenges and personality differences.
He also denied allegations circulating online, including claims of assault, threats and confinement. “The residence in the U.S. is a quiet multi-family apartment with poor soundproofing,” he said. “If an incident like assault had occurred, the neighbors below would have immediately reported it.”
He said he met Kim Sae-ron four times between November 2024 and February 2025, and aside from their first meeting, she voluntarily traveled to the U.S. each time. “If there had been abuse or confinement, why would she keep coming back on her own?” he said.
He admitted they shared passwords to their phones and social media accounts but claimed it was a mutual decision based on marital trust.
He also denied rumors that Kim Sae-ron underwent an abortion, calling them “completely baseless.” This came after YouTuber Lee Jin-ho alleged that Kim Sae-ron had an abortion in January before getting married.
Separately, Kim Sae-ron's family said they covered the majority of her medical expenses. Kwon Young-chan, head of the Korea Celebrity Suicide Prevention Association, told Newsis that he had spoken directly with Kim Sae-ron’s family, including her mother.
“Kim Sae-ron never asked acquaintances to pay her hospital bills. Her family covered almost all of it,” Kwon said.
According to Kwon, Kim received medical treatment 20 times before her death. Of those, her parents paid for 18 visits. The head of her agency paid the remaining two.
“Kim (Sae-ron) didn’t want to worry her family and felt especially sorry toward her mother. That’s why she didn’t tell them about some of the costs,” he added.
This article is translated by generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.