By Maladubu 
Kim Soo-hyun, the beloved K-drama superstar, found himself in hot water when allegations surfaced about a past relationship with the late actress Kim Sae-ron, dating back to when she was allegedly underage.
Introduction to the Allegations
It all started with a bombshell dropped by the YouTube channel Garo Sero Institute, which claimed that Hallyu golden boy Kim Soo-hyun had been in a romantic relationship with the late actress Kim Sae-ron when she was only 15 years old. Given Kim Soo-hyun’s pristine, boyfriend-material image and status as one of South Korea’s most beloved actors, the allegations sent shockwaves through the entertainment industry faster than a K-drama second lead’s heartbreak. Fans and netizens alike were left shocked, trying to piece together fact from fiction in what quickly became the messiest drama of 2025.
Their Connection: Former Agency Ties and Friendship
In 2019 Kim Sae-ron signed with Gold Medalist Entertainment, the agency managing Kim Soo-Hyun. While Kim Soo-hyun was the agency’s untouchable A-list superstar, Kim Sae-ron was supposed to be the next big thing—until, well, she wasn’t. The two were often seen interacting at company events, and their professional relationship seemed perfectly innocent. But after Kim Sae-ron’s departure from Gold Medalist, their continued association had fans side-eyeing harder than a disapproving K-drama mother-in-law.
Kim Sae-ron’s Downfall: The DUI Scandal and Lawsuit
Kim Sae-ron’s promising career took a nosedive in 2022 after she was caught driving under the influence—crashing her car straight into a transformer box, blacking out an entire area, and effectively canceling her own career in real time. The internet was not forgiving. She was fined, issued an apology, and then promptly blacklisted from the industry. Brands pulled their endorsements faster than a K-pop company scrubbing a dating scandal, and production companies dropped her like a second lead in episode 10.
To make matters worse, she later found herself entangled in a lawsuit from the businesses affected by the power outage, turning her downward spiral into a full-on freefall. Once a rising star, she now existed in the industry’s periphery, every action she took was met with scrutiny and hate. She disappeared from the public for a while – until one Instagram post put her back in the headlines.
The Instagram Post That Sparked Speculation
During the peak of Kim Soo-hyun’s Queen of Tears success, Kim Sae-ron shared a now-deleted Instagram photo casually hanging out with the actor. The internet did a collective double take. Why were they still in touch? Was this just a nostalgic get-together, or was something more brewing? The post might have seemed innocent at first glance, but given the history, it became yet another puzzle piece in the unfolding scandal. And as expected, the conspiracy theories wrote themselves.
Public Reaction and Media Coverage
The second the accusations dropped, social media went nuclear. Hashtags like #KimSooHyunScandal and #JusticeForKimSaeRon trended almost immediately, with fans divided into two camps: those ready to cancel Kim Soo-hyun forever and those swearing this was nothing more than baseless gossip.
Major Korean entertainment outlets wasted no time jumping into the chaos, analyzing every detail like an over-dramatic K-drama villain plotting revenge. International media soon followed, and before long, Kim Soo-hyun wasn’t just a K-drama heartthrob anymore—he was the main character in one of the most explosive scandals in recent memory.
Kim Soo-hyun’s Initial Response
For the first few days? Absolute silence. Kim Soo-hyun and his agency, Gold Medalist, pulled the classic celebrity move—vanishing into thin air while the internet did its thing. Naturally, the lack of response only fueled more speculation. Was this a guilty conscience or just a PR team scrambling behind the scenes? The jury was out.
When Gold Medalist finally broke their silence, they issued a statement denying the allegations, asserting that while Kim Soo-hyun and Kim Sae-ron did have a relationship, it started when she was legally of age. Case closed? Not quite. By this point, the internet had already decided what it wanted to believe, and no carefully crafted agency statement was going to change that.
Now, the real battle wasn’t just about whether the allegations were true—it was about whether Kim Soo-hyun’s carefully curated image would survive the storm. And judging by the drama so far, this saga was far from over.