ACTOR Kim Soo-hyun’s agency, Gold Medalist, has confirmed his past relationship with the late actress Kim Sae-ron.
In a statement released on March 14, the agency clarified that Kim Soo-hyun and Kim Sae-ron dated between the summer of 2019 and the autumn of 2020, after she had become an adult.
They firmly denied rumours that he had dated her while she was a minor.
Initially, the agency planned to issue a statement the following week but decided to release it earlier due to the psychological strain on Kim Soo-hyun.
"Hello, this is a Gold Medalist. We are sharing Kim Soo-hyun’s position on the recent reports from Garo Sero Institute.
"Please understand that we have released this urgent statement to reveal the truth on major issues.
"Even though this is different from our original plan, nothing else has priority over this, so we are sharing this statement even though there may still be some loose ends.,” the agency statement read on Friday.
The agency also stated that Kim Soo-hyun has been experiencing extreme psychological distress due to accusations linking him to Kim Sae-ron’s sudden death.
The agency made this statement in response to the controversy that erupted following allegations by the YouTube channel Hoverlab (also known as Garo Sero Institute), which claimed that Kim Soo-hyun had been in a relationship with Kim Sae-ron while she was underage.
They further claimed that, following a Garo Sero Institute live broadcast on March 12, individuals with cameras were seen waiting outside their company premises, heightening the pressure on the actor.
Gold Medalist addressed the claims by verifying the authenticity of the photos involved.
They confirmed that a picture Kim Sae-ron posted on Instagram on March 24, 2024, and an image shared by Garo Sero Institute on March 11, 2025, were taken privately in the winter of 2020 while the two were dating.
The agency further emphasised that Kim Sae-ron’s clothing in the photo was released in June 2019, making it impossible for the image to have been taken in 2016 when she was still a minor.
Another image shared by Garo Sero Institute on March 12, 2025, was confirmed through metadata to have been taken on Christmas Eve in 2019. The agency reiterated that all images being circulated as proof of an underage relationship were taken after Kim Sae-ron had turned 18.
Additionally, Gold Medalist refuted claims that Kim Soo-hyun’s letter to Kim Sae-ron during his military service was a love letter, stating that it was merely a friendly message to his close acquaintances.
"As you could see from the contents of the letter, Kim Soo Hyun was adjusting to the military lifestyle and used the letter to let his close friends know about his daily life in the military,” the agency explained.
They dismissed allegations that Kim Sae-ron’s publicly used nickname, "Saero Nero" (새로네로), was exclusive to their relationship. The agency accused Garo Sero Institute of distorting the narrative by presenting private postcards exchanged after they started dating as evidence of a relationship dating back to 2015.
Garo Sero Institute previously alleged that Kim Soo-hyun had begun dating Kim Sae-ron when he was 27 and she was 15, with their relationship supposedly lasting six years.
The channel also claimed that Kim Sae-ron’s family supported these accusations, stating in an interview with Hoverlab that Kim Soo-hyun’s former agency, Gold Medalist, had paid KRW 700 million to settle her DUI case before severing ties with her.
Kim Sae-ron was found dead at her home in Seoul’s Seongsu-dong district on Feb 16 this year, with investigations confirming her death as a suicide.