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On April 7, 2025, My Daily reported that over 51,000 netizens signed the 'Kim Soo-hyun Prevention Act' petition, demanding that the South Korean government review the age group mentioned in its law against underage r*pe victims.
The South Korean entertainment scene is facing a big problem with the famous actor Kim Soo-hyun and the late actress Kim Sae-ron. There are claims that Kim Soo-hyun was in a relationship with Kim Sae-ron when she was underage.
This news has caused quite a stir, and many people are really upset. Some have even started a petition for tougher laws to protect young people from being taken advantage of. They are calling it the 'Kim Soo-hyun Prevention Act.'
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A report from VnExpress International on April 3, 2025, says that a petition had already gathered over 40,500 signatures. It needs at least 50,000 signatures for the government to pay attention. By April 7, it surpassed 51,083 signatures.
In South Korea, people are considered minors until they turn 19. Right now, laws only protect those between 13 and 16 from certain types of s*xual abuse. This leaves a gap for those aged 16 to 18, who may not get enough legal protection and could be open to exploitation without the right support.
The proposed "Kim Soo-hyun Prevention Act" seeks to address this discrepancy by extending statutory r*pe protections to include all individuals under 19. Additionally, the petition advocates for increasing the minimum prison sentence for statutory r*pe from two years to five years, aiming to deter potential offenders and ensure more severe consequences for violations.
Kim Soo-hyun's press conference and the background of the controversy
Kim Sae-ron earned acclaim for her roles in films such as A Brand New Life (2009) and The Man from Nowhere (2010). However, her career faced challenges following a drunk driving incident in 2022, which led to legal issues and public criticism. Tragically, she was found dead in her home in February 2025, with authorities confirming her death as a s*icide.
In March 2024, an Instagram photo of Kim Sae-ron cozying up with Kim Soo-hyun, her supposed romantic partner, was posted and swiftly deleted. In the brief window of time before its deletion, the photo sparked a social media frenzy, with countless users speculating on the newly emerged (and much baselessly assumed) pop duo's alleged relationship.
A year later, after the Bloodhounds actress took her own life on February 16, 2025, a political investigative media YouTube channel by the name Garosero Research Institute accused Kim Soo-hyun of dating the actress when she was underage. These allegations were confirmed by the late actress's alleged aunt.
Garosero interviewed Kim Sae-ron's alleged aunt and her parents on their YouTube livestreams on March 10 and 11, 2025. They confirmed that Kim Soo-hyun was 27 when he started dating the 15-year-old Kim Sae-ron. The family released screenshots of their text messages, pictures, and video clips.
Kim Soo-hyun and his agency, Gold Medalist, denied these allegations and called the materials used to support them fabricated. However, on March 14, Gold Medalist admitted that the actors indeed dated, but it was from 2019 to 2020 and not from 2015 to 2022.
This increased public outrage as fans globally accused the Queen of Tears actor of the same allegations. Brands such as PRADA, DINTO, CUCKOO, Homeplus, Eider, Jo Malone London, and more distanced themselves from the actor and removed his ads from their platforms.
To counter the rising controversy, Kim Soo-hyun set up a press conference for March 31, 2025, to deal with the accusations. At the highly charged event, he firmly asserted that he had not dated Kim Sae-ron when she was under the required age.
He stated,
"I did not date the deceased when she was a minor. And it is also not true that the deceased made a tragic choice because of me turning a blind eye."
Kim Soo-hyun offered proof to counter the accusations. He showed a forensic report indicating he didn't send certain messages from 2016 and 2018. He stressed that his bond with Kim Sae-ron started in 2019 when she was old enough and continued for about a year.
The Queen of Tears actor faced further backlash following his press conference as netizens underscored that Kim Sae-ron's international age in 2019 was 18. In South Korea, the official adult age for drinking and marriage is 21, and the late actress was three years younger than the legal age in 2019.
Netizens accused the Queen of Tears actor of using the Korean age metric to shield his relationship with the actress. In South Korea, Koreans use the traditional Korean age system, which adds one to two years to the actual age of a person. However, this does not apply to the official age or to the official documents.
