“Not true” — Promoter debunks resurfaced coercion rumors about Kim Soo-hyun’s Thailand badminton court controversy

On March 16, 2025, The Korea Herald reported that the event promoter for the Korean Culture Alliance Thailand (KCA Thailand) revealed that Kim Soo-hyun did not coerce his way in building a personal badminton court in the hall of the Siam Paragon shopping mall. The KCA Thailand is currently non-functional.

“It is true that Kim played badminton then, but there was no coercive request by Kim to install a badminton court. We would also like to clarify that other information circulating online regarding the badminton video and photos is not true,” they said.

The controversy is from March 30, 2014, during Kim Soo-hyun's Asia Tour 1st Memories in Thailand fan meeting held at Siam Paragon in Bangkok. The actor faced allegations that he coerced local staff into accommodating his late-night badminton sessions, leading to claims of power abuse.

On March 11, 2025, a Thai X (formerly Twitter) user claimed to have been an on-site staff member during the 2014 fan meet event. He alleged that Kim Soo-hyun requested an abrupt and extensive reorganization of the venue back then.

The user claimed that when the staff suggested renting an outdoor badminton court, Kim Soo-hyun expressed his wish to play indoors due to privacy issues. The user asserted that the staff was forced by the actor to dismantle the seating arrangements to set up a mini badminton court inside.

After the allegations went viral amidst the ongoing dating controversy of the actor, the Korean Culture Alliance Thailand issued an official statement on March 16, 2025.

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PRADA and Dinto terminates contracts with Kim Soo-hyun amidst his dating controversy with late Kim Sae-ron

Kim Soo-hyun is facing significant professional setbacks as Italian luxury fashion house PRADA and South Korean cosmetics company Dinto terminated their contracts with him.

These developments came amid allegations that the Queen of Tears actor engaged in a romantic relationship with the late actress Kim Sae-ron during her teenage years.

PRADA appointed Kim Soo-hyun as a brand ambassador in December 2024. Following the ongoing controversy, on March 14, 2025, the Italian luxury house announced ending their contract with the actor. They also deleted their posts of the actor from Instagram.

SPOTV News reported that an official from PRADA gave an official statement.

"Considering the seriousness of the issue, we have decided to end our collaboration with actor Kim Soo-hyun by mutual agreement. The contract has been terminated. This was decided at the head office level," they said.

Following this, South Korean vegan cosmetics brand Dinto, also ended its association with the Queen of Tears actor. Soap Central reported that Dinto initially adopted a cautious approach and expressed their choice to wait for the controversy to subside. However, escalating public backlash prompted Dinto to act decisively.

On March 15, 2025, Dinto released a statement:

"Dinto has decided to terminate its advertising model contract with Kim Soo Hyun. Regarding the recent controversy, as a partner in both business relations and contractual agreements, we believed it was appropriate to uphold the principle of good faith."

Dinto stated that after "reviewing" the official statement of the actor's agency, Gold Medalist, they decided to not continue their partnership with Kim Soo-hyun. It added:

"After reviewing the statement issued by his agency yesterday, we have determined that there are substantial grounds rendering the fulfillment of the advertising contract unfeasible. Accordingly, we are officially proceeding with the termination process through our legal representatives."

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On March 15, 2025, the late Kim Sae-ron's mother demanded that the Queen of Tears actor apologized and acknowledged publicly that he dated the actress when she was underage.

The bereaving family also demanded that Gold Medalist apologized for sending Kim Sae-ron a legal notice to pay 700 million KRW to the agency for her DUI case.

Furthermore, the family demanded that Gold Medalist needed to acknowledge that Kim Sae-ron contributed to the company as one of its founding members since its inception in 2019.

Kim Sae-ron took her life on February 16, 2025, at the age of 24. Her body was discovered in her Seoul apartment by a friend, who then informed the police.