Falhon Cyril

@Ghosting You are right. I grouped your comment too broadly with others whose arguments were very different, and that was unfair. I have reread what you wrote, and I should not have presented you as part of the trolling or as someone making the same accusations. That was my mistake, and I will correct the passage.

One thing that convinced me to stop believing internet rumors wasn’t a YouTube video or a press conference. It was simply putting both careers, their locations, their professional obligations and their financial circumstances side by side.

That exercise does not prove that Kim Soo Hyun and Kim Sae Ron never spoke or met privately before 2019. No public schedule can account for every hour of a person’s life. But it exposes how much the alleged six-year relationship depends on assumptions rather than authenticated, contemporaneous evidence.

The family’s narrative asks us to believe that a sustained romantic relationship began around November 2015, when Kim Sae Ron was fifteen, survived two independently managed careers, extensive filming schedules, travel, school, weekly television work and almost twenty months of active military service, before eventually becoming publicly plausible only after Kim Soo Hyun’s discharge and Kim Sae Ron’s adulthood.

When the chronology is reconstructed, the acknowledged adult relationship fits the available facts much more naturally.

In late 2015, Kim Sae Ron was not living an unstructured private life. She was a working teenage actress and had just begun presenting MBC’s Show! Music Core, a recurring weekly commitment she maintained until April 2017. She was also moving between school, agency supervision, filming, rehearsals and promotional appearances.

Kim Soo Hyun, meanwhile, had completed The Producers and was occupied by its promotional and awards cycle. He travelled to Japan for official promotional events and appeared at major Korean award ceremonies during the same period. There is no verified joint production, advertisement, television programme, fan meeting or official trip connecting them at the alleged beginning of the relationship.

Being in Seoul at roughly the same time is not evidence of dating. Millions of people are in Seoul simultaneously. Evidence would require authenticated messages, documented meetings, reliable witnesses or photographs whose dates can be independently established.

The following year makes the claim no easier.

Kim Soo Hyun spent much of 2016 working on Real, a large film production that involved location filming and long production days. Contemporary reporting also documents that he remained one of Asia’s busiest advertising figures and continued receiving Chinese commercial offers. He was simultaneously preparing for professional bowling qualification, participating in thirty competitive games during the first qualifying round that October.

Kim Sae Ron was separately filming and promoting the twenty-episode drama Mirror of the Witch while continuing her weekly Music Core duties. She then signed with YG Entertainment in November 2016. Kim Soo Hyun remained under KeyEast.

They were therefore not sharing an agency, production crew, manager, filming base or organized professional schedule. Their days were being controlled by entirely different companies and productions.

Filming location matters here. Actors do not simply appear on set for an hour and return to an otherwise empty day. Productions involve transport, hair and makeup, rehearsals, blocking, costume preparation, waiting between takes, night shoots and repeated filming. A performer may spend twelve or more hours attached to one location even when the final scene lasts only minutes.

That still does not make a meeting impossible. It does, however, make the allegation of a sustained hidden relationship more demanding. The accusers must explain not merely how they could have crossed paths once, but how two heavily supervised performers working on different productions and often in different areas maintained a meaningful relationship without producing reliable contemporary evidence.

One widely circulated photograph demonstrates why dating the material itself is essential. Images presented as evidence of a 2016 outing were later challenged because another image from what appeared to be the same occasion showed Kim Sae Ron holding a phone resembling an iPhone 11 Pro, a model unavailable before September 2019. That does not automatically settle the date of every photograph, but it illustrates why visual evidence cannot simply be assigned to 2015 or 2016 because an accuser says so.

The chronology becomes even more difficult in 2017.

Kim Soo Hyun spent the first half of the year promoting Real through press interviews and public appearances. His military enlistment was then announced, and he entered active service on October 23, 2017.

Kim Sae Ron remained independently represented by YG. Until April, she still had her weekly Music Core schedule. She was continuing her education and developing her career separately.

There is again no documented shared production or professional environment linking them.

Then comes the largest chronological problem: Kim Soo Hyun’s military service.

From October 2017 until July 2019, he served on active duty, including service in a reconnaissance battalion near the Demilitarized Zone. His residence, movements, leave and daily routine were controlled by the military. He could not move freely around Korea or maintain an ordinary celebrity lifestyle.

Soldiers can communicate and receive leave. Military service therefore cannot be treated as proof that private contact was impossible. But anyone alleging a continuous romantic relationship during that period must produce evidence corresponding to that reality: dated leave meetings, calls, letters or other authenticated communications.

Kim Soo Hyun’s legal representatives have instead said that military letters from this period document a relationship with another woman lasting from 2016 until spring 2019. According to his side, roughly 150 letters were associated with that relationship, while the communication sent to Kim Sae Ron was an ordinary friendly letter comparable to those sent to other acquaintances.

Those materials come from his defence and must be evaluated as defence evidence rather than accepted blindly. Nevertheless, they directly contradict the allegation that Kim Sae Ron was his girlfriend throughout military service.

Kim Sae Ron’s own life did not stop while he was enlisted.

She continued working under YG, completed her education through an alternative route, was accepted into Chung-Ang University and filmed The Villagers. In 2019, she appeared in Love Playlist 4 and Leverage. Her career, education and management remained independent of both Kim Soo Hyun and KeyEast.

This matters because some comments portray her as though Kim Soo Hyun had controlled her professional life from adolescence. The documented record says otherwise. She joined YG in 2016 and remained there until late 2019. Her projects were arranged through her own agency and production teams.

The first period in which their lives genuinely begin to converge is the second half of 2019.

Kim Soo Hyun was discharged on July 1, 2019. He immediately began rebuilding his career, appearing in a Hotel del Luna cameo and preparing for a full television comeback.

Kim Sae Ron turned nineteen internationally on July 31, 2019. She was completing Love Playlist 4, working on Leverage and nearing the end of her YG contract.

This is precisely the kind of period in which contact becomes practically plausible. He was out of the military. She was an adult. Their professional circles began moving closer. Photographs whose technology appears inconsistent with a claimed 2016 date become compatible with late 2019.

Kim Soo Hyun’s side says their adult relationship began during this general period and lasted approximately one year. Gold Medalist has maintained that they dated only after Kim Sae Ron reached adulthood. Reuters reported the dispute as an allegation denied by Kim Soo Hyun, not as an established finding that he dated her while she was a minor.

Another major responsibility occupied Kim Soo Hyun during late 2019: the creation of a new company.

After approximately a decade with KeyEast, he left the agency and joined the newly established Gold Medalist. Contemporary reporting in December 2019 described plans for a new independent management structure, and the company formally announced Kim Soo Hyun, Seo Yea Ji and Kim Sae Ron as its initial major artists around the beginning of 2020. Gold Medalist was established by director Lee Sa Rang and producer Kim Mi Hye, both long associated with Kim Soo Hyun’s work.

Creating an entertainment company is not a casual side activity. It requires capitalization, offices, legal registration, contracts, staffing, accounting, artist recruitment, management systems, production negotiations and long-term financial planning.

Gold Medalist was also not merely a personal fan club built around Kim Soo Hyun. It became involved in artist management and television production, including co-production of It’s Okay to Not Be Okay. Establishing that business while preparing his first major post-military drama would have demanded extensive meetings and financial commitment.

This does not disprove an adult relationship. In fact, it explains why Kim Sae Ron joining the new agency in January 2020 is compatible with greater personal or professional closeness at that point.

But it does weaken the idea that Kim Soo Hyun spent the previous four years quietly organizing his life around a teenage girl. His public life during those years shows major productions, overseas commercial activity, military preparation, active service, career reconstruction and the launch of a company.

During 2020, their schedules finally overlap through the same agency.

Kim Soo Hyun was filming It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, his first full lead role after military service. The production involved a sustained filming schedule across several locations while Gold Medalist was simultaneously building its business and co-producing the drama.

Kim Sae Ron was now represented by the same company and appeared in Nobody Knows. This is the strongest period for plausible regular contact, and it falls inside the adult relationship acknowledged by Kim Soo Hyun’s side.

Evidence of closeness in 2019 or 2020 cannot simply be moved backwards four years. A photograph taken after adulthood does not prove grooming at fifteen. A person joining someone’s agency as an adult does not prove that the adult controlled them as a child.

The financial history is also essential, because later accusations often reduce Kim Sae Ron’s problems to one man and one disputed relationship.

Her family’s financial problems appear to have been substantial and independent.

Court-related reporting later showed that her father filed for personal bankruptcy in December 2020 following the collapse of a business during the COVID-19 period. He reportedly owed more than twenty creditors. Kim Sae Ron herself was listed as one of his creditors, reportedly owed approximately 250 million won. The bankruptcy process was finalized in 2023. A restaurant connected to the family also reportedly failed after unpaid rent and maintenance costs exhausted its deposit.

That means Kim Sae Ron’s financial pressure cannot honestly be described as beginning with Gold Medalist’s later debt notice or with the end of her relationship with Kim Soo Hyun. Her family was already experiencing serious financial instability around 2020, close to the period when the adult relationship reportedly ended.

It also shows the complexity of her position. She was not simply a young actress earning money for herself. Available court reporting indicates that she had financially supported or lent money within her family structure and became exposed to the consequences of her father’s business failure.

Then came the May 2022 drunk-driving accident.

Kim Sae Ron struck roadside structures and a transformer in Seoul’s Gangnam district, causing a temporary power interruption affecting nearby businesses. She subsequently left Trolley, and Netflix altered plans involving her role in Bloodhounds. She was later fined 20 million won.

The financial consequences extended far beyond the court fine.

There were compensation costs connected to affected businesses and production-related losses. Gold Medalist said it advanced or handled substantial compensation and later treated approximately 700 million won as a company loss after concluding she could not repay it. The company said this was recorded in its audited accounts.

The exact characterization of every component of that debt has been disputed. Her family described the arrangement differently, while Gold Medalist said the money was not a personal loan from Kim Soo Hyun and that the formal notices were required for accounting and legal reasons.

What is clear is that her financial crisis had several identifiable sources: her father’s bankruptcy, family business losses, money reportedly lent within the family, the collapse of her acting income after the DUI, compensation to businesses, production liabilities and borrowing from acquaintances.

Reports based on court documents later estimated that her total obligations may have exceeded one billion won. SBS reported that she had carried family-related debt and received financial help from people in the entertainment industry and personal acquaintances.

This does not remove Kim Sae Ron’s suffering or absolve everyone around her of every moral responsibility. It means her situation cannot accurately be compressed into the claim that Kim Soo Hyun dated her as a child, abandoned her and personally created all of her financial hardship.

The verified financial record is much more complicated.

Her father’s bankruptcy was not caused by Kim Soo Hyun. The family restaurant’s failure was not caused by him. Her DUI accident was not caused by him. The damage compensation, loss of projects and public backlash following that accident were not invented by Gold Medalist.

At the same time, it is legitimate to question how the agency communicated with a financially distressed former artist and whether the legal notices were handled sensitively. Those are reasonable questions. They are not proof of an underage sexual relationship.

This distinction is constantly erased online.

People take a later adult relationship, a later agency relationship, a later debt dispute and a later family tragedy, then arrange them backwards to create a grooming narrative beginning in 2015.

But chronology does not work backwards.

In 2015, she had her own career structure and weekly television obligations.

In 2016, they were filming separate projects under separate management, and she signed with YG.

In 2017, he promoted Real and entered the military.

From late 2017 to mid-2019, he was serving in a military unit while she continued acting, studying and working through YG.

Only after July 2019 was he discharged, she became nineteen, their circles converged and the photographs and agency relationship begin to fit an adult relationship.

At the end of 2019, he was also leaving KeyEast and helping establish the professional structure around Gold Medalist.

In 2020, they finally shared an agency, while he filmed and helped launch one of the company’s first major productions.

Her father’s bankruptcy began around the same broader period, introducing a separate source of financial pressure.

In 2022, the DUI accident created a new and much larger professional and financial crisis.

These are not minor details. They are the structure of the case.

None of this allows us to say that an earlier relationship was physically impossible. Private meetings can occur between public schedules. But the more extraordinary allegation is not that they met once. It is that they maintained a secret romantic relationship for years beginning when she was fifteen.

That claim requires evidence proportionate to its seriousness.

It requires authenticated messages whose dates and participants are independently verified. It requires photographs reliably dated by original metadata rather than captions added years later. It requires testimony tested against contradictory evidence. It requires an explanation for the military period, the separate agencies, separate filming schedules, differing locations and another alleged romantic relationship documented in military correspondence.

Simply saying, “They knew each other for a long time,” proves none of that.

Kim Sae Ron knew many adult actors, directors, producers and agency employees because she had been working since childhood. Professional familiarity is not pedophilia. Knowing a minor does not establish sexual attraction, grooming or abuse.

The public chronology fits a later adult relationship considerably better than it fits a six-year relationship beginning in 2015.

That does not mean anyone must admire Kim Soo Hyun, approve of every choice he made or believe every statement issued by Gold Medalist. It means the accusation must be judged through evidence rather than repeated until repetition itself is mistaken for proof.

The more closely both lives are reconstructed—the productions, locations, military service, agency changes, company creation, family bankruptcy, accident and debts—the less convincing the simplified internet story becomes. It replaces several separate professional, personal and financial events with one sensational explanation.

Reality is usually more complicated than a viral accusation. In this case, the documented chronology is not merely complicated. It repeatedly conflicts with the neat story people insist on telling.

@Nan, @ella, @lovelymind, @NeoB, @gongyoothirdleg, @khadz, @DeepKahk, @Rapunzel, @YangMoney127, @lushurou, @Masterxys... you all state with complete certainty that Kim Soo Hyun is a predator, a groomer or a pedophile. My question is very simple: based on what verified evidence? Not TikTok edits. Not anonymous "insiders." Not rumors. Not "everyone knows." Not "it's obvious." Not "I feel." Actual evidence. Because that's exactly what the police and prosecutors spent months investigating. Instead, what happened? The individual who publicly led the accusations is now facing criminal prosecution. Prosecutors have brought charges that reportedly include defamation, attempted coercion, stalking, intimidation, and other alleged offenses connected to the campaign against Kim Soo Hyun. Investigators also challenged key pieces of evidence that had been presented to the public as proof. That does not automatically answer every question about Kim Soo Hyun's private life. But it absolutely destroys the claim that the accusations were established facts. Yet many of you continue speaking as though nothing has changed.

@Potkjo, your comment is actually a perfect example of why words matter. You call someone a "pedophile" while describing an allegation that, even if accepted as true for the sake of argument, would not fit the clinical or legal meaning of pedophilia. Saying "they knew each other before they dated" is not, by itself, evidence that someone is sexually attracted to prepubescent children. Those are two completely different claims. If you're going to accuse someone of one of the most serious crimes imaginable, then precision matters just as much as evidence. The word "pedophile" is not a synonym for "older partner," "groomer," or "someone I morally dislike." It has a specific meaning, and throwing it around without evidence only weakens legitimate discussions about actual child abuse.

@Mia, @citizenmae, @bg_i6o2... every time information appears that doesn't fit your narrative, the answer is always the same: "The police are corrupt." "The prosecutors were bought." "The media were bought." "The judges will be bought." So let me ask a genuine question: what evidence would actually change your mind? If the answer is "nothing," then this was never about justice. It was about protecting a belief. When every piece of evidence you dislike becomes part of a conspiracy, you've stopped following facts. You're defending a conclusion instead of looking for the truth.

@Sanoya, I actually respected one thing you admitted. You acknowledged that some claims made by Kim Sae Ron's family may have been false. That's more intellectually honest than many people here. But then you immediately return to treating suspicions as conclusions. "It's weird." "It feels wrong." "There are too many coincidences." Those are perfectly valid reasons to ask questions. They are not evidence that a crime occurred. You even recognized there was room for doubt about the grooming allegation, yet you continue speaking as though your suspicions should carry the same weight as verified facts. They don't. Suspicion is the beginning of an investigation, not the end of one.

@Floki, ironically, I agreed with much of what you wrote. You repeatedly reminded people that allegations are not facts, that evidence matters more than assumptions, and that nobody here truly knows everything that happened behind closed doors. I agree with that principle completely. But that principle has to work both ways. If we're willing to question accusations because the evidence is weak, we should also be willing to reconsider our own conclusions when investigators undermine the very evidence that convinced us in the first place. Otherwise skepticism becomes selective instead of objective.

@Kaelith and @16106004, while I don't necessarily agree with every legal argument either of you made, I appreciate that at least you tried to discuss principles of law instead of throwing insults. The debate between "presumed innocent" and "factually innocent" became far too philosophical for what should have been a simple issue. The reality is much simpler. Kim Soo Hyun has never been criminally charged, the allegations made against him have not been established by any competent authority, and the investigation instead shifted toward the conduct of those who spread the allegations. Whether people choose to believe he is morally innocent is their personal opinion. But presenting disputed allegations as established facts is simply not supported by the current state of the evidence.

@Char, @JulySnow2...( one correction on my part. I originally included @Ghosting here, but after rereading their comment, that wasn't fair.) While I disagree with some of their conclusions, they weren't making the same arguments as those presenting disputed allegations as established facts, so they shouldn't have been grouped together. That's my mistake. My point here is directed at those arguing that Kim Soo Hyun's career is "over anyway" or that the legal developments are irrelevant. For nearly sixteen months Kim Soo Hyun paid an extraordinary price. He lost endorsement deals worth billions of won. Disney postponed one of its biggest Korean productions. Business partnerships disappeared. Professional relationships were damaged. Friends remained silent to avoid becoming targets themselves. His reputation, built over nearly twenty years, was shattered worldwide. Millions called him a pedophile, a groomer and even responsible for Kim Sae Ron's death despite never being criminally charged. Even if every project returns tomorrow, no court can give him back those sixteen months. No amount of money restores a destroyed reputation overnight. Those losses are real, whether you like him or not.

I've also noticed something after reading not only this article but previous MDL discussions as well. Many of the same usernames appear every single time. Some, like @NeoB, @Mia, @Masterxys, @YangMoney127 and @Rapunzel, continue to present the allegations as though they were already established facts despite the legal developments. Others, such as @Sanoya and @Ghosting, have raised questions or suspicions without always making the same categorical claims, and it's important not to treat every critical commenter as identical. My criticism is directed at people who refuse to distinguish between suspicion and proof, not at everyone who remains unconvinced. Meanwhile, people like @Floki, @Kaelith and @16106004 have at least tried to discuss evidence, legal standards and due process, even if I don't agree with every point they make. That's the difference. One side debates evidence. The other often begins with a conclusion and looks for arguments to support it.

What fascinates me most is the psychology of this comment section. When the allegations first appeared, many people said, "Wait for the evidence." Now that investigations have challenged key evidence and the person who publicly drove this campaign is facing criminal prosecution, many of those same people suddenly say, "I don't care," or "Korea is corrupt," or "he bought everyone." That is confirmation bias. You accepted evidence only when it supported what you already wanted to believe. The moment it challenged your belief, you dismissed it.

Nobody here is asking you to become a Kim Soo Hyun fan. Nobody is asking you to forget Kim Sae Ron. Nobody is asking you to stop asking legitimate questions. But if you genuinely care about justice, your standards cannot change depending on whether you personally like the accused. Justice means following evidence wherever it leads, even when it forces you to reconsider your own opinion. If tomorrow credible evidence emerged proving Kim Soo Hyun committed a crime, I would accept it immediately because evidence matters more than personal preference. Can those of you who have already declared him guilty honestly say the same in reverse?

Ironically, @kdramachic demonstrated something that has become increasingly rare in this discussion: separating facts from assumptions. Whether you ultimately like Kim Soo Hyun or not, the point made was simple and accurate. Simply knowing a younger colleague in the entertainment industry does not make someone a pedophile. Child actors work with adult actors every day. They attend award shows together, promotional events together, filming sets together and often take photos together. If merely knowing a minor before later dating them as adults were enough to prove pedophilia, then countless professional relationships across the entertainment industry would suddenly become "evidence." That's not how evidence works. The fact that this even has to be explained says a lot about how emotionally charged this discussion has become. And despite @kpk333's frustration, I don't think insulting people solves anything. I'd rather ask them to apply the same standard of evidence they would expect if the accusation were directed at themselves.

So I'll leave everyone here with one final question. Imagine tomorrow someone accused you of one of the worst crimes imaginable. Your employer fired you. Your contracts disappeared. Your friends distanced themselves. Your family received abuse. Millions of strangers called you a predator every single day. Then, more than a year later, investigators concluded that key evidence used against you had been manipulated or could not support the claims being made, while the main public accuser ended up facing criminal prosecution. Would you honestly want people to keep saying, "I still feel you're guilty"? Or would you want them to judge you by evidence instead of internet rumors? If your answer is the second one, then perhaps Kim Soo Hyun deserved the same fairness from the very beginning.

I agree about the production values. The direction, cinematography and casting were all solid, and it definitely felt like the team cared about making a quality series.

My biggest issue was actually the writing. For me, the story never gave the audience time to breathe. It kept piling murder, betrayal and twists on top of each other without enough lighter moments to balance everything. By the end, I admired the production more than I actually enjoyed watching it.

So while I gave the acting an 8/10, my overall score stayed much lower because I simply wasn't entertained as much as I wanted to be. That's what ultimately matters most to me.

Honestly, I wouldn't mind if the romance stayed in the background, but I don't think I'd want it completely absent.

What makes stories memorable isn't the romance itself—it's emotional investment. Whether it's love, friendship, family, or loyalty, you need characters the audience genuinely cares about. Otherwise, revenge becomes just another action sequence.

If *Uke* really explores identity, prejudice, and the entertainment industry the way the synopsis suggests, then a well-written romance could actually strengthen the story rather than distract from it. It would raise the stakes because the audience would have something meaningful to lose alongside the characters.

So I'm hoping for a story where the revenge and psychological themes come first, with the romance serving the narrative instead of the other way around. That would make for a much more memorable series.

I completely agree, and I actually think we're witnessing a turning point.

For years, BL mostly competed against other BL series. Today, that's no longer enough. It's now competing with mainstream dramas from Korea, China, Japan, Netflix, HBO, and every other platform producing high-quality stories.

That means audiences are becoming less forgiving of weak scripts, one-dimensional characters, or stories that rely only on chemistry and fanservice. People now expect strong writing, good directing, convincing performances, and production values that can stand alongside any other drama.

What's exciting is that several markets seem to be evolving at the same time. Thailand is becoming more ambitious with projects like *Uke*, *Khemjira*, and *The Scent of Sorrow*. Chinese productions are pushing boundaries with uncensored MM stories. Korean BLs are slowly moving beyond short web dramas into more mature and diverse storytelling.

Personally, I hope we eventually reach a point where people stop asking, "Is this a BL?" and simply ask, "Is this a good series?" The relationship shouldn't define the genre any more than a heterosexual couple defines a crime drama or a psychological thriller. It should simply be one part of a much larger story.

If that's where the industry is heading, I think everyone wins: the creators, the actors, and the audience.

I completely agree. This is one of those projects where "good enough" acting won't be enough.

If the performances don't feel authentic, the audience will stop thinking about the themes and start thinking about the acting. That's especially true if the series reaches a wider audience beyond regular BL fans because of Karn Sivaroj's involvement.

But I also think this project asks for something beyond technical acting skills. It requires courage.

Playing a character like this means exposing a level of vulnerability that many actors may never have been asked to show before. It's one thing to play a romantic lead in a conventional BL. It's another to portray someone who may be judged, stereotyped, or treated differently because of how they express their masculinity. If the actors hold back because they're worried about protecting their own image, the message of the series could easily fall apart.

At the same time, I think this could be exactly the kind of role that allows an actor to surprise everyone. We've seen many actors deliver career-best performances when they were finally given a complex character instead of another familiar BL archetype. From the trailer alone, Namping already feels more layered and emotionally nuanced than in any of his previous roles. Hopefully, that's a sign of what's to come.

If everyone brings their A game, this has the potential to be remembered not just as a good BL, but as an important series.

I actually think you're touching on a real contradiction.

If we're only looking at the visual dynamics of the official pairs, then yes, most of Domundi's established ships still fit the traditional BL formula of a more masculine partner and a softer or more feminine one. I don't think many people would disagree with that.

My point wasn't that Mandee has already broken away from those conventions. It's that they seem more willing than many companies to create opportunities for artists who don't fit the industry's traditional expectations in the first place.

To me, there's a difference between the image a company sells and the environment it creates. Through projects like *DMD Friendship the Reality*, they invested in developing artists rather than simply casting ready-made ships. They also seem more comfortable working with openly queer artists and with people who don't necessarily fit the hyper-masculine image that has dominated the industry for years.

That doesn't mean they're perfect. In fact, I think *Uke* itself could be seen as an acknowledgment that there's still work to do. Representation isn't just about who gets cast; it's also about how those characters are written. A feminine-presenting character can still end up with very little agency if the writing relies on old stereotypes.

So I don't see *Uke* as proof that Mandee is already progressive. I see it as a sign that they're at least willing to question some of the conventions that the BL industry—including themselves—has relied on for years. And that's a conversation I think is worth having.

I actually think that's a very fair criticism, and maybe one that makes Uke even more interesting.

One thing that has always made Mandee stand out to me is that they seem to approach talent development differently from many other BL companies. Through *DMD Friendship the Reality*, we literally watched trainees live together, train together, learn acting, singing, dancing, and build relationships before becoming established pairs. It wasn't just about creating ships; it was about developing artists and giving them a space to grow.

That's one of the reasons I became attached to KengNamping long before *Khemjira*. Watching them interact through *DMD Friendship* made their chemistry feel natural rather than manufactured. It felt like we were seeing two people build trust and friendship first, and a ship second.

Because of that, I've always viewed Mandee as a company that is genuinely trying to do things differently.

Which is why I agree with your criticism.

Being inclusive and writing good characters are not the same thing. A company can be welcoming toward queer artists, feminine-presenting men, and people who don't fit traditional industry expectations, while still writing feminine characters in ways that limit them. Representation is not just about visibility. It's about agency, complexity, ambition, flaws, and allowing a character to drive the story.

And I do think Mandee has sometimes struggled with that. Nunew is a great example. He's obviously talented and charismatic, but many of his roles share similar traits and emotional beats. To be fair, that's not unique to him or even to Mandee. Once a ship becomes successful, the industry often starts selling a familiar dynamic instead of challenging the actors with completely different characters.

That's why Namping immediately caught my attention in the *Uke* trailer. He doesn't feel like an archetype. He feels like a person. He has confidence, frustration, vulnerability, ambition, and personality. In a few minutes, I learned more about who he is than I have from some feminine-presenting characters across entire series.

I also wonder if that's partly why Mandee is producing this story in the first place.

Of course, I don't know Aof Noppharnach personally, and I don't want to pretend to know his experiences. But looking at the type of artists he supports, the environment Mandee has tried to create, and the fact that he has never really projected the hyper-masculine image that parts of the entertainment industry traditionally favor, I sometimes wonder whether *Uke* reflects things he witnessed throughout his career.

Maybe that's even part of why Mandee exists. Not necessarily to rebel against the industry, but to create a space where people who didn't fit the traditional mold could still be seen and appreciated.

If that's the case, then I hope *Uke* doesn't just criticize the industry of ten years ago. I hope it also challenges today's industry—including Mandee itself. Because the next step isn't simply casting feminine-presenting actors. It's giving them the same narrative importance, agency, strengths, weaknesses, dreams, and contradictions as everyone else.

And from what we've seen so far, Namping's character might already be a step in that direction.

What interests me most about this project is not just the story itself, but the fact that it is being produced by Mandee.

For years, the Thai BL industry has often promoted a very specific image of masculinity. Even though BL stories are centered around queer relationships, many productions still tend to favor actors who fit conventional masculine beauty standards. More feminine-presenting actors, openly queer performers, transgender people, or those who do not fit that image have often been pushed into comic relief roles, side characters, or stereotypes rather than being allowed to carry complex stories of their own.

This is one reason why Mandee has always stood out to me. Whether people enjoy all of their productions or not, the company has built a reputation among many fans for being more welcoming toward different personalities, gender expressions, and types of artists. Through projects such as DMD Friendship the Reality, they have also shown a different approach to talent development, allowing trainees to live, learn, and grow together before becoming established artists and ships. It is not a perfect system, but it feels different from the more traditional approach often seen elsewhere.

I also think younger fans sometimes forget how different the industry was ten years ago. The BL genre has become far more mainstream today, but the early years were not always kind to LGBTQ+ people. Effeminate gay men, transgender people, and gender-nonconforming individuals often faced mockery, discrimination, or pressure to hide parts of themselves in order to be accepted professionally.

That is why the title itself immediately caught my attention. In BL culture, "uke" is more than just a relationship role. Over time, it has become associated with a whole set of assumptions: softer, more emotional, more passive, more feminine. It can become a label that defines how people expect a person to behave before they even get to know them.

Looking at the synopsis, I wonder if that is exactly what the series wants to explore. What happens when people decide who you are based on your appearance, your mannerisms, or the way you express yourself? What happens when society reduces someone to a stereotype instead of seeing them as a complete human being?

And honestly, this is not only a BL issue. It reflects a broader social reality that many LGBTQ+ people still experience today. Feminine-presenting men, transgender people, and gender-nonconforming individuals are often judged not for who they are, but for how closely they fit—or fail to fit—other people's expectations.

I hope the series does more than tell a romance story. I hope it sparks conversations about prejudice, identity, self-acceptance, and the pressure many people face simply for expressing themselves authentically. If it succeeds in doing that, it could become one of the most meaningful BL projects in recent years.

I don't expect you to agree with me, but dismissing everything as "you love your oppa" is an easy way to avoid addressing the actual points.

I've spent months reading court filings, agency statements, financial reports and media coverage from multiple sides. I looked into the DUI, the father's bankruptcy, the reported 250 million KRW family debt, the approximately 700 million KRW Gold Medalist issue, Kim Sae-ron's career collapse, the timeline of their relationship, and the later police findings concerning allegedly manipulated evidence.

You can call me a fan if you want. It doesn't change the chronology or the documents.

If tomorrow credible, independently verified evidence proved that Kim Soo-hyun groomed a minor, I would condemn him without hesitation. Until then, I refuse to label someone a groomer based on disputed material and internet narratives.

That's not being an "oppa lover." That's applying the same standard of proof I would expect for anyone else.

2/2
In March 2024, Kim Sae-ron posted and quickly deleted a selfie with Kim Soo-hyun. Publicly, this triggered dating rumours. What is important is that she did not explain the photo. She did not publicly accuse him of grooming, abuse, exploitation, or ruining her life. She did not say they dated when she was underage. She posted an ambiguous image and deleted it. That is strange, but it is not proof of grooming. It can be read many ways: emotional impulse, attention-seeking, unresolved attachment, a private message, or something else. We do not know.

Gold Medalist denied the dating rumours at that time. Later, when the scandal exploded after her death, the agency admitted that Kim Soo-hyun and Kim Sae-ron had dated, but said the relationship happened only from summer 2019 to fall 2020, when she was already an adult. They denied any underage relationship. Kim Soo-hyun himself later repeated publicly that he had dated her only as an adult and denied causing her death or pressuring her over debt.

From what I personally know, their relationship was brief, private and adult. It was not the great long love story that the internet later imagined. She was more emotionally attached than he was. He cared about her and wanted to remain on good terms, but he did not love her in the way she may have wanted. He was also at an extremely busy and career-focused point in his life. That does not make him guilty of grooming. It makes the emotional situation sad and complicated.

After Kim Sae-ron’s death in February 2025, the narrative changed completely. Before that, the public facts were mainly the DUI, her financial hardship, her failed career comeback attempts, the agency debt, and the strange selfie. After her death, the story became about Kim Soo-hyun allegedly dating her from 2015 when she was a minor, grooming her, pressuring her over money, and causing her death. That new story came through third parties: her family side and Garo Sero / HoverLab.

This is the central shift. While Kim Sae-ron was alive, she never publicly accused Kim Soo-hyun of grooming, abuse, or destroying her life. The most serious accusations came only after her death, through others. That does not automatically make them false, but it matters because the source and timing changed the entire case.

From what I personally know, this is where the money motive becomes important. If Kim Sae-ron still had financial obligations connected to Gold Medalist or Kim Soo-hyun’s circle, then after her death the family had a strong reason to change the moral framing of the debt. If the public saw Kim Soo-hyun as a former partner or as someone connected to an agency debt, the question could be: “What happens to the money she owed?” But if the public believed he groomed her, pressured her and caused her death, the question becomes: “How much does he owe her family?” That is a complete reversal.

Financially, the YouTube scandal and false narrative could benefit the family in several ways. It could remove moral pressure to repay or acknowledge debts connected to Gold Medalist. It could create public sympathy and possible donations. It could create leverage in civil negotiations or lawsuits. It could open the door to compensation claims. And, perhaps most importantly, it could redirect public scrutiny away from family financial issues and toward Kim Soo-hyun as the single villain.

In 2025, the public accepted many materials as if they were proven: alleged diaries, alleged KakaoTalk messages, photos, letters and recordings. The family / Garo Sero version claimed the relationship began around 2015, when she was still a minor. Kim Soo-hyun / Gold Medalist denied that and said the relationship was adult-only, from 2019 to 2020.

Then in 2026, the case shifted again. Police and media reports said key evidence used against Kim Soo-hyun had allegedly been manipulated or AI-generated, including KakaoTalk screenshots and audio recordings. Reports also said an arrest warrant was issued for Kim Se-ui of Garo Sero / HoverLab in connection with the case. That changes the public debate from “did people believe the family?” to “were people manipulated by fabricated evidence?”

When I put the timelines side by side, the pattern is this.

Kim Sae-ron had family-related financial burdens before the DUI. Her father’s bankruptcy and family business problems show that money pressure existed before Kim Soo-hyun became the public focus. Then the DUI created new liabilities, destroyed her career, and made repayment almost impossible. Gold Medalist absorbed or handled a major part of the financial fallout, around 700 million KRW, but because the agency was structurally tied to Kim Soo-hyun, that debt could later be personalized as if it were his direct pressure.

Kim Soo-hyun, meanwhile, was at the opposite point in his life. He had returned from military service, joined Gold Medalist, rebuilt his career, and by 2024 was at a major career peak with “Queen of Tears.” A public scandal about a private relationship would have been extremely damaging to him, especially while a romantic drama was airing. That helps explain the denial of dating rumours at the time, even if it later looked bad emotionally.

Kim Sae-ron’s emotional life also cannot be reduced to him. From what I personally know, she had other relationships and complicated family dynamics. Kim Soo-hyun may have remained emotionally important to her, and the date of her death may have had symbolic meaning, but symbolic meaning is not proof of legal or moral responsibility.

What I see is not Kim Soo-hyun creating all of Kim Sae-ron’s suffering. I see a young woman who had been under pressure for years from family money issues, career collapse, public hatred, debt, isolation, and emotional instability. I see a brief adult relationship that may have mattered more to her emotionally than to him. I see a debt handled through an agency built around him. And after her death, I see a public campaign that turned a complex financial and family tragedy into one easy accusation against the most famous and wealthy person connected to her.

That is why I do not accept the claim that “Kim Soo-hyun ruined her life” or “got her killed.” Her life was already collapsing from multiple directions. The relationship may have been one emotional element, but the public narrative erased the rest: the DUI, the career collapse, the family debt, the failed business, the Gold Medalist accounting issue, the YouTube campaign, and the disputed evidence.

In my view, the real pattern is not “one man destroyed her.” The pattern is: financial collapse, family burden, public shame, emotional dependency, agency debt, then posthumous reframing through disputed evidence and media pressure.

That is the full picture people are refusing to look at.

1/2
When I look at the whole Kim Sae-ron / Kim Soo-hyun situation, I do not see a simple story about one man destroying one woman’s life. I see several timelines crossing each other: her career collapse, her family’s money problems, Gold Medalist’s debt handling, Kim Soo-hyun’s own career peak, and later the YouTube campaign that turned a complex financial and personal tragedy into one public accusation.

Kim Sae-ron was already carrying financial pressure before the DUI and before Kim Soo-hyun became the centre of the public narrative. Public reports say her father filed for bankruptcy in December 2020 after a business collapse during COVID, and that Kim Sae-ron, then only around 20 years old, was listed as one of his creditors for about 250 million KRW. Reports also mention a family restaurant connected to her that later failed, causing further loss, including the security deposit. To me, this matters because it shows that her financial burden did not start with Kim Soo-hyun. It was already tied to her family.

At the same time, her agency timeline matters. She had been with YG Entertainment from 2016, then left after her contract expired in late 2019. In January 2020, Kim Sae-ron, Kim Soo-hyun and Seo Yea-ji all signed with the newly created Gold Medalist. Gold Medalist was not a neutral old company with no connection to Kim Soo-hyun. It was created around him and by people personally close to him, including Lee Sa-rang / Lee Ro-bae and producer Kim Mi-hye. That point is important because when the later debt was handled by Gold Medalist, the public could easily connect it emotionally and morally to Kim Soo-hyun himself, even if the legal handling was corporate.

From what I personally know, Kim Sae-ron’s relationship with her family was deeply conflicted. She loved them, but she had also carried financial responsibility for years. She had been earning since childhood, and after the DUI she no longer had the same ability to support herself or others. In that kind of situation, family love, guilt, money, resentment and obligation can all exist at the same time.

Then came the May 2022 DUI accident. Publicly, this is the real turning point in her career. She damaged public infrastructure and affected nearby businesses, apologized, lost work, and became the target of major public backlash. Her career did not simply slow down; it was effectively placed on hold. Reports later described significant financial consequences from compensation, penalties and debts. Some reports put her wider liabilities at up to around 1.2 billion KRW.

Gold Medalist later said that around 700 million KRW was connected to money advanced or liabilities handled because of the DUI aftermath. Some reports specify about 686.4 million KRW in a certified legal notice. Gold Medalist’s position was that this was not Kim Soo-hyun personally chasing her, but an agency matter arising from DUI-related costs. The agency also said it had already treated the amount as uncollectible / bad debt by December 31, 2023, and that later notices were procedural corporate steps.

From what I personally know, Kim Soo-hyun was not pressuring her directly for money. The issue was handled through Gold Medalist because that is how things work around an actor at his level. He was focused on his career, and the agency handled the financial and legal side. But because Gold Medalist was built around him and connected to people close to him, the debt could easily be reframed publicly as “Kim Soo-hyun’s money” or “Kim Soo-hyun pressuring her.”

This is where Kim Soo-hyun’s own timeline matters. After military discharge in 2019, he was rebuilding and then rising again very strongly. He joined Gold Medalist in 2020, acted in “It’s Okay to Not Be Okay,” then later became extremely visible again with “Queen of Tears.” Around the time of the 2024 selfie incident, “Queen of Tears” was airing and his career was at a very high point. That also explains why dating rumours at that time would have been dangerous for his public image, his drama, and his agency.

When I look at the Kim Sae-ron and Kim Soo-hyun case, I do not see a simple story about a famous actor destroying the life of a younger actress.

I see the accumulation of financial pressure, family issues, career collapse, public hatred and personal tragedy that was eventually condensed into one easy narrative: "Kim Soo-hyun caused everything."

The timeline, as I understand it, begins long before the public controversy.

In South Korea, family ties often extend far beyond emotional support. It is not uncommon for successful children to help parents or siblings financially, repay family debts, support failed businesses or become the main source of income for the household. While every family is different, there is a strong cultural expectation of responsibility toward one's relatives. Kim Sae-ron had been working since childhood and became one of the financial pillars of her family. According to public court-related reporting, her father entered personal bankruptcy proceedings around December 2020, and Kim Sae-ron herself was reportedly listed as one of his creditors after covering approximately 250 million KRW connected to family obligations. Reports also described further financial losses linked to a family business that ultimately failed.

To me, this demonstrates that her financial burden did not begin with Kim Soo-hyun. It existed independently of him.

Then came the DUI accident in May 2022.

The consequences were enormous. Compensation had to be paid, contracts were affected, productions were disrupted and public opinion turned violently against her. She publicly apologized and accepted responsibility. From that point onward, acting opportunities became extremely limited, making repayment of any debt significantly more difficult.

Public reporting later suggested that her overall financial liabilities may have exceeded one billion KRW when all obligations were considered.

One of the largest publicly discussed amounts was approximately 700 million KRW connected to Gold Medalist.

This is where many people oversimplify the story.

Gold Medalist was not an unrelated corporation with no personal connection to Kim Soo-hyun. It was founded around him and by people personally close to him, including Lee Sa-rang (also known as Lee Ro-bae), widely reported to be his cousin or close family relation, together with producer Kim Mi-hye. Kim Soo-hyun was the agency's principal artist and central figure.

Therefore, while the debt was legally handled by Gold Medalist, it was emotionally and publicly inseparable from Kim Soo-hyun himself.

According to Gold Medalist's own public statements, by the end of 2023 the agency had already concluded that Kim Sae-ron was unlikely to repay the approximately 700 million KRW and treated it as a bad debt for accounting purposes, reflecting this in its financial reporting. The agency later explained that legal notices sent in March 2024 were procedural corporate requirements and that discussions regarding repayment methods took place afterward.

From my personal understanding, Kim Soo-hyun himself was never personally pursuing Kim Sae-ron for repayment. The matter was handled through the agency, as one would expect for someone in his position. Kim Sae-ron was therefore facing multiple simultaneous pressures: the destruction of her career after the DUI, accumulated financial obligations, responsibility toward her family and uncertainty about her future.

At the same time, Kim Sae-ron's own financial situation appears to have remained extremely fragile.
- She had already lost much of her career because of the DUI.
- She reportedly worked part-time.
- She reportedly continued facing financial obligations extending beyond the Gold Medalist issue.

Most importantly, from what I personally know, her relationship with her family was deeply conflicted despite her continuing sense of responsibility toward them.

Then came the Instagram selfie in March 2024.
- She uploaded it.
- She deleted it almost immediately.
- But she never publicly stated that Kim Soo-hyun had groomed her.
- She never accused him of abuse.
- She never accused him of destroying her life.
- She never publicly claimed they had dated while she was a minor.

The image generated speculation but carried no explanation from her. After her death, however, the narrative changed completely. The discussion shifted away from the DUI, family finances, career collapse and accumulated pressure. Instead, attention focused almost exclusively on Kim Soo-hyun. If Kim Sae-ron died while still carrying significant financial obligations connected to Gold Medalist, then those obligations and their moral perception became extremely important. The allegation became that he had begun dating her in 2015 while she was still fifteen years old. Supporting material was released through the bereaved family's side and the YouTube channel Garo Sero (HoverLab), including alleged diaries, KakaoTalk messages, photographs and later audio recordings.

Viewed one way, the situation could be understood as an actress who accumulated debts following the consequences of a DUI accident and whose agency handled part of those liabilities.

Viewed another way, if the public could be convinced that the same agency's central figure had groomed her from childhood and later pressured her financially, then the entire moral balance changed. The discussion was no longer about debt. It became about an alleged victim and an alleged abuser. In that context, public sympathy overwhelmingly shifts toward the bereaved family, while public anger focuses almost exclusively on Kim Soo-hyun and those associated with him.

The release of alleged diaries, KakaoTalk messages, photographs, letters and recordings through the family's side and the YouTube channel Garo Sero reinforced that narrative. Whether those materials ultimately prove reliable or not is for investigators and courts to determine.
From my perspective, this changed the meaning of the money itself.

Previously, the issue could be understood as a debt arising from DUI-related financial consequences handled through Gold Medalist. After the public campaign, it became portrayed as a powerful older man allegedly demanding repayment from a woman he had supposedly groomed since childhood. That transformation fundamentally altered public perception.

It also had the practical effect of turning Kim Soo-hyun from someone connected to an outstanding financial issue into the moral villain of the entire story.

In 2026, investigators reportedly concluded that important pieces of evidence used to support the underage-dating narrative had been manipulated or generated using artificial intelligence, including alleged KakaoTalk conversations and audio recordings. Criminal proceedings followed against individuals involved in distributing that material.

If those investigative conclusions ultimately withstand judicial scrutiny, then one of the foundations of the public narrative collapses. When I examine everything together, I do not conclude that Kim Soo-hyun created Kim Sae-ron's suffering.

Financially, the narrative changes everything. Instead of people asking "How will the outstanding debts be handled?", they start asking "How much should Kim Soo-hyun pay the family?" In my opinion, that reversal alone creates a strong financial incentive because it can eliminate moral pressure to repay existing obligations while creating opportunities to pursue compensation, settlements or public fundraising.

I conclude that she was already living under extraordinary pressure caused by family responsibilities, financial obligations, career collapse after the DUI and relentless public condemnation. The family knew the financial reality and understood that turning Kim Soo-hyun into a public villain would morally and practically change the perception of any money owed or connected to him.

I believe Kim Soo-hyun became the focal point onto which an already complex tragedy was projected.
- The relationship may have been emotionally significant.
- The timing of her death may have symbolic meaning.
But symbolism is not proof of causation.

For me, reducing Kim Sae-ron's entire life and death to one former partner ignores the much broader reality of the pressures she had been facing for years before the world chose a single person to blame.

I'm not questioning your affection for Kim Sae Ron. If you loved her like a little sister, then I understand why this case is emotional for you.

But let me ask you something sincerely: Why do you believe Kim Soo Hyun is responsible for her struggles?

By the time of her death, she had already gone through the DUI scandal, lost acting opportunities, suffered enormous public backlash, faced financial difficulties and, according to numerous reports over the years, had a complicated personal and family situation.

Which of those struggles did Kim Soo Hyun create?

And if your answer is simply "because they dated," then I have another question: where did Kim Sae Ron herself ever publicly say that he groomed her, abused her or ruined her life while she was alive?

She posted and quickly deleted a selfie that sparked dating rumours, but she never accompanied it with any accusation. The most serious allegations emerged only after her death through third parties.

So I'm genuinely asking: what independently verified evidence convinced you that he was the cause of her suffering rather than one person in a much larger and more complicated story?

I'm not asking you to agree with me. I'm asking what facts led you to that conclusion.

"Essentially got her killed" is an extraordinary claim. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

Kim Sae Ron's life was far more complex than one relationship.

By the time of her death, she had already experienced the fallout from the DUI scandal, severe public backlash, loss of acting opportunities, financial difficulties, social isolation and, according to various reports over the years, ongoing family and personal pressures. Those issues existed independently of Kim Soo Hyun.

Even if we accept that they once dated as adults, that still does not establish that he caused her death.

People also tend to forget that Kim Sae Ron herself never publicly accused Kim Soo Hyun of grooming her, abusing her or driving her to suicide while she was alive. The most serious allegations emerged only after her death through third parties, and several pieces of the material circulated publicly have since been challenged or become the subject of legal disputes.

If we genuinely care about justice, we should be asking for evidence, not choosing the simplest story because it is emotionally satisfying.

Reducing a lifetime of professional collapse, financial pressure, emotional struggles and other possible contributing factors to "one man killed her" is not only unfair to Kim Soo Hyun, it also oversimplifies Kim Sae Ron's own life and suffering.

Sometimes the truth is more complicated than the internet wants it to be.

You keep saying "it's an established fact," but that's precisely the point: it isn't.

Yes, Kim Soo Hyun and Kim Sae Ron met while she was still a minor. They worked in the same industry. That has never automatically meant grooming. By that logic, every actor, director or senior colleague who meets a child actor would become a potential groomer.

The key question is not *when they first met*. The key question is whether there is evidence that he intentionally built an emotional or psychological dependency while she was underage in order to pursue a sexual or romantic relationship later. That is what grooming actually means.

Even the timeline itself has been heavily disputed. Gold Medalist has consistently maintained that they dated only when Kim Sae Ron was an adult. More importantly, many of the materials that were used to support the underage narrative—including alleged KakaoTalk messages and audio recordings—have since been challenged as manipulated or AI-generated, with police investigations and criminal complaints following.

People also forget the reality of their careers. Kim Sae Ron was an established child actress with her own successful career. Kim Soo Hyun was one of the busiest actors in Korea, filming continuously and managing major projects. There has never been independently verified evidence showing that he secretly "raised" or "prepared" her for years until adulthood.

And there is another point that is rarely mentioned: while Kim Sae Ron was alive, she never publicly accused Kim Soo Hyun of grooming her, abusing her or destroying her life. She posted and quickly deleted a selfie that sparked dating rumours, but she never accompanied it with any allegation of abuse or exploitation. The most serious accusations emerged only after her death through third parties.

If they briefly dated as adults after knowing each other professionally for years, that may make some people uncomfortable, and everyone is entitled to their personal opinion. But discomfort is not evidence, and opinion is not proof of grooming.

Words like "groomer" describe one of the most serious accusations that can be made against a person. They should require solid, independently verified evidence. Not assumptions, internet timelines or disputed material that investigators themselves have questioned.

So no, "they met when she was a minor and later dated" is NOT the definition of grooming. It's an interpretation that still requires proof of intent and conduct during her minority. So far, that proof has not been established.

I've actually read a lot of your comments over the years. You often ask people not to spread misinformation, mistranslations or fake spoilers because they distort reality. You analyse dramas in detail and expect nuance from fictional stories.

Yet when it comes to Kim Soo Hyun, all of that disappears. A detailed argument becomes 'blah blah blah', and a human being becomes a 'criminal' without a criminal conviction.

That's what surprises me the most. Not that we disagree, but that someone who usually values discussion refuses to engage with one.

If your position is so strong, defend it with evidence. Otherwise you're doing exactly what you've criticized others for doing: replacing facts with emotion.

I'm genuinely sorry you went through that.

What saddens me the most is that people who claimed to be defending victims ended up bullying and traumatizing other people simply for asking them to wait for evidence before destroying someone's life.

That isn't justice. It isn't compassion. It isn't protecting survivors. It's mob behaviour.

One of the reasons I've continued speaking up is because I don't want to see another Choi Jin-sil, another Sulli, another Goo Hara or another Lee Sun-kyun. South Korea has already paid an unimaginable price for online hatred and trial by public opinion.

Whatever anyone thinks of Kim Soo Hyun, I don't believe anyone should be labelled a pedophile or groomer without conclusive evidence. Those words destroy lives, and once they're spread across the internet, the damage is almost impossible to undo.

I also agree with you that comment sections should be moderated far more strictly. Constructive criticism is one thing. Thousands of people repeating insults, wishing death on someone or presenting allegations as established facts is something entirely different.

No family should have to read that. No victim should have to read that. And no innocent person should have to endure it either.

Sadly, what you're describing is not new in South Korea. In fact, the country has already lost too many talented people because of the toxic combination of public humiliation, online hate, rumours, media pressure and social isolation.

**Choi Jin-sil (2008)** was relentlessly targeted by malicious rumours and online harassment. False accusations and gossip spread across the internet until the pressure became unbearable. Her death shocked the nation and even led to discussions about regulating anonymous online comments.

**Jang Ja-yeon (2009)** left documents alleging exploitation and abuse within the entertainment industry. Even after her death, her story became the subject of political battles, media manipulation and years of controversy, illustrating how powerless many entertainers can feel.

**Jonghyun of SHINee (2017)** openly spoke about his depression and emotional pain. He left a heartbreaking letter explaining how exhausted he felt. While his struggles were deeply personal, he also lived under extraordinary expectations, constant public scrutiny and the pressure that comes with being one of Korea's biggest idols.

**Sulli (2019)** became one of the clearest examples of cyberbullying destroying a person. She was attacked for dating, for expressing opinions, for refusing to follow traditional expectations, even for posting ordinary photos. Every action became another excuse for hate. The abuse never stopped.

Only weeks later, **Goo Hara (2019)** also died after enduring years of online harassment, invasive media attention and the trauma surrounding a highly publicized legal battle with an ex-boyfriend. Even after surviving one suicide attempt, she continued to face relentless public judgment.

Then came **Lee Sun-kyun (2023)**. Before any court reached a conclusion, his name, private life and reputation were dragged through the media every single day. The humiliation became national entertainment. He eventually took his own life, leaving behind his wife and children. Afterwards, many Koreans questioned whether the media and the public had gone far beyond what was morally acceptable.

Now look at **Kim Sae-ron**. After her DUI incident, she faced enormous public backlash, lost work opportunities, accumulated financial pressure and became increasingly isolated. Whether one believes that these factors explain everything or not, they were undeniably part of her reality.

And now look at **Kim Soo Hyun**. For more than a year, millions of strangers labelled him a groomer, a pedophile and even blamed him for another person's death before any court had convicted him of anything. Disputed KakaoTalk messages, alleged recordings and sensational claims spread worldwide faster than verified facts ever could. He lost projects, endorsements, peace and privacy, while his family watched him become the target of an unprecedented online witch hunt.

When I look at all these cases together, I see the same pattern repeating itself over and over again.

Rumours become headlines. Headlines become "facts." Social media becomes judge, jury and executioner.

People lose work, lose friends, lose hope and sometimes lose their lives before the truth has even had a chance to emerge. That is why I refuse to participate in online mob justice. History has already shown us, again and again, that by the time people realise they were wrong, it is often far too late.