On 29 July 2026 at 14:00, Dispatch news agency reported that Kim Soo-hyun the South Korean leading actor, has been cleared of violating child welfare laws after allegations from the family of the late Kim Sae-ron claiming he sexually abused a minor were concluded to be "not true."
Kim Soo-hyun has been legally exonerated following earlier findings that accusations of dating a minor were false, and recently, additional allegations of sexual exploitation of a minor were also dismissed by police who decided not to prosecute.
Recently, the Seongdong Police Station ordered not to forward the case to prosecutors regarding Kim Soo-hyun's alleged violation of child welfare laws and false reporting. Police conducted thorough investigations into whether they dated while Kim Sae-ron was under 18, and whether sexual abuse occurred, ultimately concluding that all allegations of dating a minor were false.
Going back to May last year, the family of Kim Sae-ron and Kim Se-yi a representative of the popular YouTube channel Garosero Institute (가로세로연구소), filed a complaint against Kim Soo-hyun for violating child protection laws and false reporting, citing information from press conferences held by Kim Se-yi and lawyer Boo Ji-seok.
In the complaint, the deceased's family alleged that Kim Soo-hyun had a sexual relationship with Kim Sae-ron since 2014, when she was in 8th grade, approximately 14 years old, and forced her to engage in lewd acts, constituting child sexual abuse.
Subsequently, Kim Se-yi and lawyer Boo Ji-seok released an audio clip purportedly of Kim Sae-ron speaking with an acquaintance in New Jersey, accusing Kim Soo-hyun of sexually exploiting a minor.
At a press conference, they claimed the first sexual encounter occurred during winter break while Kim Sae-ron was in 8th grade, citing the clip's statement: "The first time with him was during winter break in 8th grade," using this as key evidence for their allegations.
However, the issue was that the audio clip was fake. The South Korean Supreme Prosecutor's Office forensic lab found that Kim Sae-ron's voice was generated by AI because the speaker's sound frequencies did not match a real woman's voice, providing evidence that the audio was manipulated.
Moreover, the person claimed to be an "acquaintance in New Jersey" could not be identified. It remains unknown whether they actually live in New Jersey or have ever met Kim Sae-ron. Police therefore still refer to the individual as unknown and do not rule out that this voice may also have been AI-generated.
Despite this, Kim Se-yi insisted that she had personally investigated in New Jersey and maintained the audio clip was genuine, while the deceased's family used it as evidence in their complaint, expanding allegations from dating a minor to sexual exploitation of a child.
The complaint stated that Kim Soo-hyun engaged in sexual acts and induced Kim Sae-ron to perform lewd acts, while she was a child lacking the capacity to protect her rights, constituting both sexual and emotional abuse adversely affecting the child's mental health and development.
Meanwhile, Kim Se-yi was charged and detained on 23 June for disseminating false information about Kim Soo-hyun. She is currently held in a Seoul detention center and scheduled for her first court hearing in August.
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