Kim Soo Hyun Did (Not) Date Kim Sae Ron: All His Agency’s Statements About The Relationship
This article is part of our coverage of Kim Soo Hyun And Kim Sae Ron's Relationship. You can read more and view the entire timeline here.
From the initial denial to the latest update, here are all the statements Kim Soo Hyun‘s agency, GOLD MEDALIST, has released about his relationship with the late actress Kim Sae Ron since 2024.
1. GOLD MEDALIST’s First Statement
In March 2024, rumors about Kim Soo Hyun’s romantic relationship with Kim Sae Ron arose after the latter posted a couple photo on Instagram. In response, the agency stated they were aware of the rumors and were looking into them.
We just heard about the rumors related to Kim Soo Hyun this morning. We will provide an accurate statement after looking into the rumors and confirming the truth.
— Gold Medalist
2. GOLD MEDALIST Denies The Relationship
In a statement released to media outlets, including Star News, GOLD MEDALIST denied all rumors of Kim Soo Hyun being in a relationship with Kim Soo Hyun. The agency called the rumors “unfounded” and threatened to take strong action against the “groundless misunderstandings” that stemmed from the couple photo.
Hello, this is GOLDMEDALIST.
We would like to inform you of our official position regarding a picture of Kim Soo Hyun that has been spreading today.
We would like to inform you that the rumors of Kim Soo Hyun being in a relationship [with Kim Sae Ron] are unfounded. The photo that is being spread online appears to have been taken in the past when the two were both under our management. As for Kim Sae Ron’s intentions for uploading the picture, we do not know.
Due to the groundless misunderstandings and speculations that are circulating about Kim Soo Hyun regarding the picture, our legal representatives will be taking strong action against all damages to his character and reputation as well as for slander and spread of malicious posts.
Please refrain from spreading unfounded rumors or speculative articles.
Thank you.
— GOLDMEDALIST
3. Responding To Garo Sero Institute’s Exposé
GOLD MEDALIST did not initially respond to the exposé published by Garo Sero Institute on March 10, 2025. After Kim Sae Ron’s aunt (a close family friend) and Garo Sero Institute published the second part of their interview, GOLD MEDALIST responded with the following statement on March 11, 2025.
We have seen the live stream by Garo Sero Institute, and we are currently discussing how to deal with it. We still do not have any additional things to say. We will let you know as soon as we organize things.
— Gold Medalist
4. GOLD MEDALIST promises to “set the record straight.”
On March 12, after a new interview revealed more details about Kim Sae Ron’s staggering debt, GOLD MEDALIST announced that they were preparing a response to Garo Sero Institute’s latest live broadcast. The agency promised to set the “record straight, correct false statements, and counter baseless rumors” about Kim Soo Hyun.
Hello, this is Gold Medalist.
We would like to comment on the recent broadcast from Garo Sero Institute about Kim Soo Hyun.
We will be releasing a full statement next week to set the record straight, correct false statements, and counter the baseless rumors that were presented about Kim Soo Hyun.
We apologize for causing exhaustion with the length wait. Please understand as this is to avoid continuous statement releases.
Thank you.
— GOLD MEDALIST
5. GOLD MEDALIST Confirms The Relationship
On March 14 (KST), GOLD MEDALIST confirmed that they two dated but denied that the relationship began when Kim Sae Ron was 15 years old. The agency claimed that the relationship began between the summer of 2019 and the fall of 2020.
They also addressed evidence presented by Garo Sero Institute, such as the letter Kim Soo Hyun wrote to Kim Sae Ron when he was in the military. At the time, she was 17 and he was 30.
Kim Soo Hyun and Kim Sae Ron were dating between the summer of 2019 and fall of 2020, after she became an adult. It is not true that Kim Soo Hyun dated her when she was a minor. Kim Sae Ron’s photo that she uploaded on March 24, 2024 on her Instagram story and the photo that Garo Sero Institute shared on March 11, 2025 were private images taken by the two in the winter of 2020 when they were dating [T/N: Gold Medalist has since clarified that when they said Winter 2020, they meant between January and March 2020]. The clothes Kim Sae Ron was wearing at the time were released in June 2019 by the brand, so Garo Sero Institute’s claim that the photo was taken in 2016 when Kim Sae Ron was a minor is impossible.
In addition, another photo shared by Garo Sero Institute on March 12, 2025, was a photo taken by the two on Christmas Eve, December 24, 2019. This can be confirmed through the picture’s metadata. The photo released on March 13, 2025, was taken on the same day, as seen from the fact that they are wearing the same clothes. All of the photos being shared by Garo Sero Institute with the claim that Kim Soo Hyun dated Kim Sae Ron when she was a minor were taken after she became an adult. Their claim that these photos were taken in 2016 have no grounds. This is because the two were not dating at that time.
Kim Soo Hyun’s letter to Kim Sae Ron while he was in the military was just one of the letters he sent to his close friends. 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 expression “I miss you” is a light-hearted expression used by soldiers to their close friends. However, Garo Sero Institute is claiming that the two had been dating since 2015, using photos that were taken after Kim Sae Ron was an adult and claiming they were from when she was a minor. They used the postcard sent to Kim Sae Ron after the two were dating to strengthen their claim that the military letter was also a love letter. Kim Sae Ron’s nickname (Saero Nero, 새로네로) that she used publicly since 2016 was made to seem like it was a nickname that only the two used between each other.
There is a lot of criticism being directed towards Kim Soo Hyun regarding their relationship. Even if a relationship between two adults is a private matter, it is natural to expect Kim Soo Hyun’s life, as a person who is loved by many, will be within the public sphere. If there is criticism to be had, then he should accept it seriously and it should sting even more. However, due to Garo Sero Institute’s report, a plethora of false claims and misinformation is spreading as if they are true. The informant who appeared on their broadcast and made numerous false claims stated they were part of Kim Sae Ron’s family. But according to one media outlet, she is actually just an acquaintance of Kim Sae Ron’s mother, [not her aunt]. They are distorting reality and creating rumors based on a few photos and information from an informant whose identity cannot even be confirmed.
The fact that the extremely personal private lives of two people are being forcibly revealed by others, and the fact that both Kim Soo Hyun and the deceased [Kim Sae Ron] are having their private lives discussed alongside numerous rumors and speculative reports, is extremely painful for Kim Soo Hyun and those around both him and Kim Sae Ron. After the private lives of the two were revealed by Garo Sero Institute, we believe that the varied public opinions on his choices are unavoidable. But the past when two consenting adults dated and broke up are being distorted by others and countless lies are still being spread. It is incredibly painful for one person to endure all of this due to their private life. Also, digging into the private life of the deceased is an act of defaming their honor.
— GOLD MEDALIST
6. GOLD MEDALIST Claims Kim Sae Ron Was An Adult, Not A Teen
In the series of statements released on March 14, GOLD MEDALIST claimed that Kim Soo Hyun’s “past actions have been made to look like intentional evil deeds,” and that Kim Sae Ron was not 16 years old in her couple photos with Kim Soo Hyun.
The agency confirmed that the photos of Kim Soo Hyun and Kim Sae Ron released by Garo Sero Institute “are true” but denied the alleged context: Kim Soo Hyun dating Kim Sae Ron when she was a minor.
A photo taken as an adult has been changed to one taken when she was 16. The deceased mother’s acquaintance has changed to her aunt. After showcasing strong visual evidence that attracts attention, the content and timeframe for the evidence have been changed.
This has made the debt issue that the former agency had taken care of into a situation where they pressured her to pay it back with a screenshot of a single text. So, the debt issue that the company sorted out a year ago has now become the direct cause of her passing.
With this process, Kim Soo Hyun has become dragged into being the culprit of the tragedy that the deceased had to face. With just one piece of evidence that removes context and distorts facts, someone is made a criminal. And because they are a criminal, everything becomes a target of condemnation.
With Garosero’s report, all of Kim Soo Hyun’s past actions have been made to look like intentional evil deeds. The photos that leaked other people’s private lives without consent and the claim that Kim Soo Hyun dated Kim Sae Ron at 16 are being repeated.
Through this process, false facts are turned into established facts and spread on the Internet, creating countless fake news stories. It is almost impossible for the person who is the target to refute all these things one by one. Even if they do, they would have to spend a large amount of time organizing the evidence and materials. And while doing this, the person in question suffers damage that is difficult to recover from.
The photos of the two revealed by Garosero are true. However, that doesn’t make their claims true. Many people are suffering because of their claims, which are made without the context behind them, distorting the truth. As mentioned earlier, we should accept the public’s view and criticism of the events regarding Kim Soo Hyun.
But we cannot accept the numerous false facts and personal attacks just because he is a celebrity. The reactions that will follow regarding his private life that has been revealed or will be revealed will have to be endured. However, we wonder if it is acceptable for adults to have their private lives revealed without their consent and if all this has to happen because their private lives were revealed without consent.
— GOLD MEDALIST
7. GOLD MEDALIST Responds To Kim Sae Ron’s Mother And Explicit Photo Of Kim Soo Hyun
On March 14, Kim Sae Ron’s mother broke her silence with a statement that claimed Kim Sae Ron did not “stir up dating rumors about herself with fabricated photos,” and that GOLD MEDALIST “falsely portrayed Sae Ron as a thoughtless liar when it claimed that they ‘do not know’ Sae Ron’s intentions for uploading her photo.” Garo Sero Research Institute also planned to release an explicit photo of Kim Soo Hyun as evidence.
On March 15, GOLD MEDALIST claimed the photo of Kim Soo Hyun in what is believed to be Kim Sae Ron’s kitchen was taken in 2019. The agency also refuted claims made by Kim Sae Ron’s mother.
Hello, this is Gold Medalist.
We are sending our official statement regarding the report aired on the YouTube channel Garo Sero Research Institute (Gaseyeon) on March 14.
The photos disclosed by Gaseyeon were taken on December 14, 2019. There is no justifiable reason for indiscriminately exposing private photos of Mr. Kim Soo Hyun and the deceased. We urge you to cease any actions that involve the dissemination of personal matters.
We have also taken note of the statement made by Ms. Kim Sae Ron’s mother in the broadcast. We believe that no words can sufficiently comfort her in the indescribable pain she is experiencing after losing Ms. Kim Sae Roon. We express our deep sorrow and regret for the pain the deceased had to endure.
We also deeply sympathize with the concerns Ms. Kim Sae Ron’s mother raised regarding the nature of various reports about the deceased. As stated in our recent official statement, Mr. Kim Soo Hyun has also suffered harm due to Gaseyeon’s reports.
However, there are certain points in the mother’s claims that differ from our perspective. Additionally, we believe there may be aspects that she was not yet aware of. Publicly debating these matters is not an appropriate way to honor the deceased or the mother’s efforts to restore their dignity. Instead, our management team would like to meet with Ms. Kim Sae Ron’s mother to provide a thorough explanation.
Please feel free to contact the Gold Medalist office at any time. We would be grateful for the opportunity to speak with you.
— GOLD MEDALIST
